HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-4004JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. OJT' 'yo 05? c c.: tl ?u
: CIVIL ACTION -LAW
IN DIVORCE AND CUSTODY
NOTICE TO DEFEND AND CLAIM RIGHTS
YOU HAVE BEEN SUED IN COURT. If you wish to defend against the claims set
forth in the following pages, you must take prompt action. You are warned that if you fail to do
so, the case may proceed without you and a decree of divorce or annulment may be entered
against you for any other claim or relief requested in these papers by the Plaintiff. You may lose
money or property or other rights important to you, including custody or visitation of your
children.
When the ground for the divorce is indignities or irretrievable breakdown of the marriage,
you may request marriage counseling. A list of marriage counselors is available in the Office of
the Prothonotary, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
IF YOU DO NOT FILE A CLAIM FOR ALIMONY, DIVISION OF PROPERTY,
LAWYER'S FEES OR EXPENSES BEFORE A DIVORCE OR ANNULMENT IS GRANTED,
YOU MAY LOSE THE RIGHT TO CLAIM ANY OF THEM.
YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS PAPER TO YOUR LAWYER AT ONCE. IF YOU DO
NOT HAVE A LAWYER OR CANNOT AFFORD ONE, GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE
OFFICE SET FORTH BELOW TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU CAN GET LEGAL HELP.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY LAWYER REFERRAL SERVICE
32 SOUTH BEDFORD STREET
CARLISLE PA 17013
(717) 249-3166
Le ban demandado a usted en la corte. Si usted quiere defenderse de estas demandas expuestas
en las paginas siguientes, usted tiene veinte (20) dias de plazo al partir de la fecha de la demanda
y la notificacion. Usted debe presentar una apariencia escrita o en persona o por abogado y
archivar en la corte en forma escrita sus defensas o sus objeciones a las demandas en contra de su
persona. Sea avisado que si usted no se defiende, la corte tomara medidas y pueda entrar una
orden contra usted sin previo aviso o notificacion y por cualquier queja o alivio que es pedido en
la peticion de demanda. Usted puede perder dinero o sus propiedades o otros derechos
importantes para usted.
LLEVE ESTA DEMANDA A UN ABOGADO IMMEDIATAMENTE. SI NO TIENE
ABOGADO 0 SI NO TIENE EL DINERO SUFICIENTE DE PAGAR TAL SE_RVICIO, VAYA
EN PERSONA 0 LLAME POR TELEFONO A LA OFICINA CUYA DIRECCION SE
ENCUENTRA ESCRITA ABAJO PARA AVERIGUAR DONDE SE PUEDE CONSEGUIR
ASISTENCIA LEGAL.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY LAWYER REFERRAL SERVICE
32 SOUTH BEDFORD STREET
CARLISLE PA 17013
(717) 249-3166
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. C) yoo ? Jv^
CIVIL ACTION -LAW
IN DIVORCE AND CUSTODY
COMPLAINT FOR DIVORCE UNDER SECTION
3301(C)OR (D) OF THE DIVORCE CODE AND FOR CUSTODY
AND NOW, comes the above-named Plaintiff, Jason D. Gordon, by his attorney, Mark
A. Mateya, Esquire, and seeks to obtain a Decree in Divorce from the above-named Defendant
upon the grounds hereinafter more fully set forth as well as joint legal and physical custody of
DAKOTA GORDON, born August 6, 1999, age 5 years, and NOAH GORDON, born April 30,
2002, age 3.
COUNTI
DIVORCE UNDER SECTION 3301(C)
OF THE DIVORCE CODE
Plaintiff is JASON D. GORDON, hereinafter "Father," an adult individual who
currently resides at 304 McLand Road, Mt. Holly Springs, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
17065.
2. All legal papers maybe served on Plaintiff by service on him to Attorney, Mark A.
Mateya, Esquire with a mailing address of P.O. Box 127, Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania 17007.
Defendant is JENNIFER J. GORDON, hereinafter "Mother," an adult individual
who currently resides at 81 Buttonwood Lane, Dillsburg, York County, Pennsylvania 17019.
4. Plaintiff and Defendant are bona fide residents of the Commonwealth for at least
six (6) months immediately previous to the filing of this Complaint.
The Plaintiff and Defendant were married on October 11, 1997, in Carlisle,
Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
6. There have been no prior actions of divorce or for annulment of marriage between
the Parties in this or any other jurisdiction.
The marriage is irretrievably broken.
Neither the Plaintiff nor the Defendant are members of the armed services of the
United States or any of its allies.
9. Plaintiff has been advised that counseling is available and that plaintiff may have
the right to request that the court require the parties to participate in counseling.
10. Plaintiff requests the Court to enter a Decree of Divorce.
COUNT It
COMPLAINT FOR CUSTODY
11. Paragraphs 1 through 10 above are incorporated herein by reference as if set forth
completely herein.
12. Plaintiff and Defendant are parents of Dakota Gordon, born August 6, 1999, and
Noah Gordon, Born April 30, 2002, who currently resides at 304 McLand Road, Mt. Holly
Springs, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 17065.
13. The children Dakota Gordon and Noah Gordon were born in wedlock.
14. The children are presently in the custody of Father at 304 McLand Road, Mt. Holly
Springs, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 17065.
15. During the past five years the children have resided with the following persons at the
following addresses:
A. At 304 McLand Road, Mt. Holly Springs, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
with Jason D. Gordon and Jennifer J. Gordon.
16. The father of the children, Jason D. Gordon, is currently residing at 304 McLand
Road, Mt. Holly Springs, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania 17065 and he is married.
17. The Mother of the children, Jennifer J. Gordon, is currently residing at 81
Buttonwood Lane, Dillsburg, York County, Pennsylvania, and she is married.
18. The relationship of the Plaintiff to Dakota Gordon and Noah Gordon is that of
natural father.
19. The relationship of the Defendant to Dakota Gordon and Noah Gordon is that of
natural mother.
20. The Plaintiff has not participated as a party or a witness, or in any other capacity, in
other litigation concerning the custody of the children in this or another Court.
21. Plaintiff has no information of a custody proceeding concerning the children pending
in a Court of this Commonwealth or any other state.
22. Plaintiff does not know of a person not a party to this custody proceeding who has
physical custody of the children or claims to have custody or visitation rights with respect to the
children.
23. The best interests and permanent welfare of the children will be served by granting
the relief requested because:
a. Plaintiff is the father of the children and Defendant is the mother of the
children.
b. Plaintiff and Defendant are presently seeking a divorce.
d. Plaintiff has been the care giver of the children since their birth.
e. Plaintiff has family support to assist with childcare for the children.
f. Plaintiff and Defendant have entered into a Stipulation regarding Custody and
Visitation which is attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and is incorporated herein by reference.
WHEREFORE, the Plaintiff requests this Honorable Court to grant joint legal custody
of the children to Plaintiff and Defendant and to grant physical custody of the children to Plaintiff
according to the Stipulation and Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and incorporated
herein by reference.
Respectfully submitted,
Ili"- A ? V?
Mark A. Mateya
Attorney I.D. No. 78931
P.O. Box 127
Boiling Springs, PA 17007
(717) 241-6500
Attorney for Plaintiff
Dated:
VERIFICATION
I, JASON D. GORDON, verify that the facts set forth in the foregoing Complaint
for Divorce and Custody are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information,
and belief. I understand that false statements herein are subject to the penalties of 18
Pa.C.S. § 4904, relating to unsworn falsification to authorities.
JASON D. GO?RDON DATE
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JASON D. GORDON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
PLAINTIFF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON
DEFENDANT
05-4004 CIVIL ACTION LAW
IN CUSTODY
ORDER OF COURT
AND NOW, Wednesday, August 17, 2005 , upon consideration of the attached Complaint,
it is hereby directed that parties and their respective counsel appear before Hulbert X. Gilroy, Esq. , the conciliator,
at 4th Floor, Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle on Thursday, September 15, 2005 at 10:30 AM
for a Pre-Hearing Custody Conference. At such conference, an effort will be made to resolve the issues in dispute; or
if this cannot be accomplished, to define and narrow the issues to be heard by the court, and to enter into a temporary
order. All children age five or older may also be present at the conference. Failure to appear at the conference may
provide grounds for entry of a temporary or permanent order.
The court hereby directs the parties to furnish any and all existing Protection from Abuse orders,
Special Relief orders, and Custody orders to the conciliator 48 hours prior to scheduled hearing.
FOR THE COURT,
By: /s/ Hubert X. Gilroy, .Es,.
Custody Conciliator i
The Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County is required by law to comply with the Americans
with Disabilites Act of 1990. For information about accessible facilities and reasonable accommodations
available to disabled individuals having business before the court, please contact our office. All arrangements
must be made at least 72 hours prior to any hearing or business before the court. You must attend the scheduled
conference or hearing.
YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS PAPER TO YOUR ATTORNEY AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT
HAVE AN ATTORNEY OR CANNOT AFFORD ONE, GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE OFFICE SET
FORTH BELOW TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU CAN GET LEGAL HELP.
Cumberland County Bar Association
32 South Bedford Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
Telephone (717) 249-3166
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JASON D. GORDON, : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
Plaintiff : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
V. : NO. 054004
JENNIFER J. GORDON, : CIVIL ACTION -LAW
Defendant : IN DIVORCE AND CUSTODY
AFFIDAVIT OF SERVICE
AND NOW, this 23rd day of August, 2005, comes Mark A. Mateya, Esquire, Attorney for
Plaintiff, who, being duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that:
1. A Complaint for Divorce and Custody was filed to the above term and number on
August 5, 2005.
2. On or about August 5, 2005, a certified copy of the Complaint in Divorce and
Custody was mailed to the Defendant, via Certified Mail, Restricted Delivery, Return Receipt
Requested. The Return Receipt was received by Plaintiff's counsel, Mark A. Mateya, Esquire on or
about August 15, 2005 and was signed for by the Defendant on August 12, 2005. A copy of the
Return Receipt is attached hereto as Exhibit "A" and is incorporated herein by reference.
3. A certified copy ofthe Complaint was mailed to the Defendant via first class mail, postage
prepaid on August 5, 2005. The Certificate of Mailing is attached hereto as Exhibit "B" and is
incorporated herein by reference.
Respectfully submitted,
W ? `
Mark A. Mateya, Es ire
Attorney I.D. No. 78931
P.O. Box 12;7
Boiling Springs, PA 17007
(717) 241-6500
(717) 241-3099 Fax
Attorney for Plaintiff
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RECEIVED OCT 1f
JASON D. GORDON, : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
Plaintiff : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
v : CIVIL ACTION - LAW
JENNIFER J. GORDON, NO. 054004
Defendant IN CUSTODY
COURT ORDER
AND NOW, this 19' day of October, 2005, upon consideration of the attached
Custody Conciliation report, it is ordered and directed as follows:
1. The father, Jason D. Gordon, and the mother, Jennifer J. Gordon, shall enjoy
shared legal custody of Dakota Gordon, born August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon,
born April 30, 2002.
2. The parties shall share physical custody of the minor children. Physical custody
arrangements shall split equally between the parents pursuant to a schedule worked
out between the parties themselves.
3. Physical custody on holidays shall be handled as follows:
a. For the Thanksgiving holiday, the holiday shall be split into two segments.
Segment "A" shall be from Tuesday at noon until Friday at 6:00 p.m., with
the second segment being from Friday at 6:00 p.m. until Monday at 6:00 p.m.
For 2005, father shall have the first segment and mother shall have the second
segment.
b. For the Christmas holiday, the holiday shall be divided into two segments:
Segment "A" being from December 24' at noon until Christmas Day at
noon and Segment "B" being from Christmas Day at noon until December
26' at noon. The mother shall have Segment "A" and the father shall have
Segment "B" in 2005. Additionally, the parties shall split equally the
remainder of the Christmas holiday after December 26' with the father
having the first part so that he can take the children to Ohio and the mother
having the second part. The parents shall calculate the number of days off
the children have and work out an equal of time for the remainder of the
Christmas holiday.
1 .ry f't' , I .['.D `JJZ
4. In the event either parent is taking the minor children out of state for an overnight
visit, that parent should notify the other parent at least seven days in advance and
advise them of the location they will be at with the children, a phone number for
that location and the travel arrangements for that visit.
5. Either parent may exercise one-week vacation with the minor children during the
summer months. The parents should advise the other parent at least thirty days in
advance as to when they intend to exercise that vacation, with the first parent
giving notice having priority to a particular week.
BY THE COURT,
A?
Judge
cc-Hark A. Mateya, Esquire
,Aichael A. Scherer, Esquire
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
v
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
: CIVIL ACTION - LAW
NO. 05-4004
IN CUSTODY
CONCILIATION CONFERENCE SUMMARY REPORT
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY CIVIL RULE OF
PROCEDURE 1915.3-8(b), the undersigned Custody Conciliator submits the following
report:
1. The pertinent information pertaining to the children who are the subject of this
litigation is as follows:
Dakota Gordon, born August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon, born April 30, 2002.
2. A Conciliation Conference was held on October 7, 2005, with the following
individuals in attendance:
The father, Jason D. Gordon, with his counsel, Mark A. Mateya, Esquire. and the
mother, Jennifer J. Gordon, with her counsel, Michael A. Scherer, Esquire.
3. The parties agree to the entry of an Order in the form as attached.
/0-(o-OS'-
DATE
Hubert X. Gilroy,
Custody Concili9A
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff/Petitioner
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant/Respondent
: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
: CIVIL ACTION - LAW
: NO. 05-4004
IN CUSTODY
PETITION TO MODIFY CUSTODY
AND NOW, comes Petitioner, Jason D. Gordon, by and through his attorney, Mark A.
Mateya, and respectfully represents:
1. Petitioner is Jason D. Gordon, who resides at 33 Pine Street, Carlisle, Pa 17013
2. Respondent is Jennifer J. Gordon, who resides at 81 Buttonwood Lane, Dillsburg, York
County, Pennsylvania 17019.
3. The children are Dakota Gordon, born August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon, Born April
30, 2002, both born in wedlock.
4. On October 12, 2005, the Honorable Kevin A. Hess entered a custody order which
flowed from a Custody Conciliation report, attached and referenced herein as if set forth at
length. See Exhibit A.
5. Respondent now plans on permanently relocating to Texas during the summer of 2006.
6. Respondent wishes to take children to Texas during the school year.
7. Petitioner wishes to have the children remain with him in Central Pennsylvania where
they have resided since birth.
8. Petitioner and Respondent have attempted, unsuccessfully, to negotiate a resolution to
the impasse.
9. It will be in the best interest of the children to grant primary physical custody to
petitioner and to grant mother partial custody for holidays, vacations, and such other times as
parties may agree.
WHEREFORE, Petitioner prays this Court to schedule a custody conciliation with a view
to scheduling a full custody hearing at the Court's earliest convenience.
Respectfully submitted,
By:
Mark A. Mateya
Attorney I.D. No. 78931
P.O. Box 127
Boiling Springs, PA 17007
(717) 241-6500
Attorney for Plaintiff
Dated:I ??
VERIFICATION
MARK A. MATEYA, ESQUIRE, verifies that he is the attorney and agent for the
Plaintiff herein, that the Plaintiffs verification cannot be obtained within the time allowed for the
filing of this pleading, that as attorney for the Plaintiff, he has sufficient knowledge and
information concerning the contents of the within document and that the facts set forth in the
foregoing are true and correct to the best of his knowledge, information and belief. He
understands that false statements made therein are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa. C.S.
§4904, relating to unworn falsification to authorities.
V 1 ? ??
MARK A. MATE A, ESQUIRE
Dated: G
RECEIVED OCT 12 2005
JASON D. GORDON, : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
Plaintiff : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
v CIVIL ACTION - LAW
JENNIFER J. GORDON, : NO. 054004
Defendant : IN CUSTODY
COURT ORDER
AND NOW, this Oh- day of October, 2005, upon consideration of the attached
Custody Conciliation report, it is ordered and directed as follows:
1. The father, Jason D. Gordon, and the mother, Jennifer J. Gordon, shall enjoy
shared legal custody of Dakota Gordon, born August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon,
born April 30, 2002.
2. The parties shall share physical custody of the minor children. Physical custody
arrangements shall split equally between the parents pursuant to a schedule worked
out between the parties themselves.
3. Physical custody on holidays shall be handled as follows:
a. For the Thanksgiving holiday, the holiday shall be split into two segments.
Segment "A" shall be from Tuesday at noon until Friday at 6:00 p.m., with
the second segment being from Friday at 6:00 p.m. until Monday at 6:00 p.m.
For 2005, father shall have the first segment and mother shall have the second
segment.
b. For the Christmas holiday, the holiday shall be divided into two segments:
Segment "A" being from December 24`h at noon until Christmas Day at
noon and Segment "B" being from Christmas Day at noon until December
26th at noon. The mother shall have Segment "A" and the father shall have
Segment "B" in 2005. Additionally, the parties shall split equally the
remainder of the Christmas holiday after December 26th with the father
having the first part so that he can take the children to Ohio and the mother
having the second part. The parents shall calculate the number of days off
the children have and work out an equal of time for the remainder of the
Christmas holiday.
EXHIBIT
A -1
4. In the event either parent is taking the minor children out of state for an overnight
visit, that parent should notify the other parent at least seven days in advance and
advise them of the location they will be at with the children, a phone number for
that location and the travel arrangements for that visit.
5. Either parent may exercise one-week vacation with the minor children during the
summer months. The parents should advise the other parent at least thirty days in
advance as to when they intend to exercise that vacation, with the first parent
giving notice having priority to a particular week.
BY THE COURT,
S
Judge
cc: Mark A. Mateya, Esquire
Michael A. Scherer, Esquire
T^"^ C 7r n. 1 RECORD
In Te imony veh?rt r;, ! 11--re unto set my hand
and sea//l((oo `` sai Court at ?l^ist?, Pa. ,
Thi...l..l.... ay qF.....(
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
v
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
CIVIL ACTION - LAW
: NO. 05-4004
: IN CUSTODY
CONCILIATION CONFERENCE SUMMARY REPORT
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY CIVIL RULE OF
PROCEDURE 1915.3-8(b), the undersigned Custody Conciliator submits the following
report:
1. The pertinent information pertaining to the children who are the subject of this
litigation is as follows:
Dakota Gordon, born August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon, born April 30, 2002.
2. A Conciliation Conference was held on October 7, 2005, with the following
individuals in attendance:
The father, Jason D. Gordon, with his counsel, Mark A. Mateya, Esquire. and the
mother, Jennifer J. Gordon, with her counsel, Michael A. Scherer, Esquire.
3. The parties agree to the entry of an Order in the form as attached.
/0-(0- 0s'
DATE
Hubert X. Gilroy,
Custody Concit*
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JASON D. GORDON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
PLAINTIFF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
V. 05-4004 CIVIL ACTION LAW
JENNIFER J. GORDON
IN CUSTODY
DEFFNDANT
ORDER OF COURT
AND NOW, Tuesday, Febru07, 2006 upon consideration of the attached Complaint,
it is hereby directed that parties and their respective counsel appear before Hubert X. Gilroy, Esq. the conciliator,
at_ 4th Floor, Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle on- Friday, February 24, 2006 __ at 9:30 AM
for a Pre-Hearing Custody Conference. At such conference, an effort will be made to resolve the issues in dispute; or
if this cannot be accomplished, to define and narrow the issues to be heard by the court, and to enter into a temporary
order. All children age five or older may also be present at the conference. Failure to appear at the conference may
provide grounds for entry of a temporary or permanent order.
The court hereby directs the parties to furnish any and all existing Protection from Abuse orders,
Special Relief orders, and Custodv orders to the conciliator 48 hours prior to scheduled hearing.
FOR THE COURT.
By: /s/ Hubert X. GtYro Es
Custody Conciliator
The Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County is required by law to comply with the Americans
with Disabilites Act of 1990. For infornnation about accessible facilities and reasonable accommodations
available to disabled individuals having business before the court, please contact our office. All arrangements
must be made at least 72 hours prior to any hearing or business before the court. You must attend the scheduled
conference or hearing.
YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS PAPER TO YOUR ATTORNEY AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT
HAVE AN ATTORNEY OR CANNOT AFFORD ONE, GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE OFFICE SET
FORTH BELOW TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU CAN GET LEGAL HELP.
Cumberland County Bar Association
32 South Bedford Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
Telephone (717) 249-3166
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JASON D. GORDON, : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
Plaintiff : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
V. : NO. 05-4004
JENNIFER J. GORDON, : CIVIL ACTION -LAW
Defendant : IN DIVORCE AND CUSTODY
AFFIDAVIT OF SERVICE
AND NOW, this 6th day of February. 2006, comes Mark A. Mateya, Esquire, Attorney for
Plaintiff, who, being duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that:
A Petition to Modify Custody was filed to the above term and number on February
2, 2006.
2. On or about February 2, 2006, a certified copy of the Petition to Modify Custody
was mailed to the Defendant, via Certified Mail, Restricted Delivery, Return Receipt Requested. The
Return Receipt was received by Plaintiffs counsel, Mark A. Mateya, Esquire on or about February
4, 2006, and was signed for by the Defendant. A copy of the Return Receipt is attached hereto as
Exhibit "A" and is incorporated herein by reference.
3. A certified copy of the Petition to Modify Custody was mailed to the Defendant via first
class mail, postage prepaid on February 2, 2006. The Certificate of Mailing is attached hereto as
Exhibit "B" and is incorporated herein by reference.
Respectfully submitted,
"k,
Mark A. Mateya, Esq ire
Attorney I.D. No. 78931
P.O. Box 127
Boiling Springs, PA 17007
(717) 241-6500
(717) 241-3099 Fax
Attorney for Plaintiff
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R MVEDMARP`/?' i
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
v
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
: NO. 05-4004 CIVIL ACTION - LAW
: IN CUSTODY
COURT ORDER
AND NOW, this &?a day of March, 2006, upon consideration of the attached
Custody Conciliation Report, it is ordered and directed as follows:
1. A hearing is scheduled in Courtroom No. 4 of the Cumberland County Courthouse on
the anG( day of June, 2006, at CI%3dg.m. The purpose of this hearing shall
be to address the upcoming relocation of the Mother to Texas and to craft a Custody
Order for the remainder of the summer and for the school year. Mother shall proceed
initially with testimony. Counsel for the parties shall file with the Court a
Memorandum outlining the history of custody in this case, each party's position with
respect to a revised Custody Order, a list of witnesses who will be called to testify on
behalf of each party, and a summary of the anticipated testimony of each witness. This
Memorandum shall be filed at least five days prior to the mentioned hearing date.
2. Pending further Order of this Court, this Court's prior Orders on custody shall
remain in effect.
BY THE COURT,
Cc: Michael A. Scherer, Esquire
Mark A. Mateya, Esquire
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JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
v
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
Prior Judge: The Honorable Kevin A. Hess
IN CUSTODY
CONCILIATION CONFERENCE SUMMARY REPORT
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY CIVIL RULE OF
PROCEDURE 1915.3-8(b), the undersigned Custody Conciliator submits the following
report:
1. The pertinent information pertaining to the children who are the subject of this
litigation is as follows:
Dakota Gordon, born August 6, 1999
Noah Gordon, born April 30, 2002
2. A Conciliation Conference was held on March 3, 2006 via telephone conference with
attorney Mark A. Mateya who represents the Father, and attorney Michael A. Scherer
who represents the Mother.
3. There are existing Custody Orders which provide the parents with shared legal
custody and shared physical custody. Father suggests that Mother has been stating to
other people and the minor children that she will be relocating to Texas this upcoming
summer. Father desires to have a hearing to determine whether the children will stay
with Father when Mother relocates. Mother suggests there is no need for a hearing at
this time and that it is Mother's obligation to file a petition to modify the existing
Order after which such a hearing would be scheduled. The Conciliator consulted with
Judge Hess and, based on that consultation, recommends an Order in the form as
attached.
Date: March l2006
: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 05-4004 CIVIL ACTION - LAW
Custody
Esquire
JASON D. GORDON, IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
Plaintiff CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
vs. CIVIL ACTION - LAW
NO. 05-4004 CIVIL
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant IN CUSTODY
IN RE: PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO MODIFY CUSTODY
INTERIM ORDER
AND NOW, this S r day of June, 2006, after hearing, and careful consideration
of the testimony adduced, it is ordered and directed that if and when the mother relocates to the
state of Texas, primary physical custody of the children, Dakota and Noah, is awarded to their
father, the plaintiff herein, subject to the right of the parties to be heard on the matter of the
partial custody of the mother on Wednesday, July 5, 2006, at 9:30 a.m., after which the court will
enter a final order.
Pending any relocation of the mother, the current order to remain in full force and effect.
BY THE COURT,
vdaark A. Mateya, Esquire
For the Plaintiff
Aichael Scherer, Esquire
For the Defendant
Am
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Kevi A. Hess, J.
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AU VI ?; . :-,'Hl JO
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
vs.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
CIVIL ACTION - LAW
NO. 05-4004 CIVIL
IN CUSTODY
IN RE: PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO MODIFY CUSTODY
ORDER
AND NOW, this /S` day of June, 2006, continued hearing in the above
captioned set for July 5, 2006, at 9:30 a.m. is changed to July 5, 2006, at 10:30 a.m. in
Courtroom Number 4, Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle, PA..
BY THE COURT,
Xark A. Mateya, Esquire
For the Plaintiff
Aichael Scherer, Esquire
For the Defendant
Am
Kevi Hess, J.
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P
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
VS.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
CIVIL ACTION - LAW
NO. 05-4004 CIVIL
IN CUSTODY
IN RE: PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO MODIFY CUSTODY
ORDER
AND NOW, this day of July, 2006, after hearing, it is ordered and directed
as follows:
1. The father, Jason D. Gordon, and the mother, Jennifer J. Gordon, shall enjoy shared
legal custody of Dakota Gordon, born August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon, born April 30, 2002.
Decisions effecting the children's well being including, but not limited to, medical treatment,
education and religious training, are decisions which the mother and father shall make jointly.
Each parent shall have full and complete access to the children's medical, dental, religious and
school records. This includes the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all medical and
other providers.
2. Upon the relocation of the mother, the father shall have primary physical custody of
said children. The mother shall have partial physical custody as follows:
a. During the school year, each fall and spring/Easter break, on the evening of the
last day of school prior to the break until the evening of the day prior to the day school
resumes;
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b. For the Thanksgiving holiday from Friday after Thanksgiving until the evening
prior to the day school resumes following the holiday;
c. For the Christmas holiday, in even years, the mother shall have the children from
5:00 p.m. on December 24th until 3:00 p.m. on the evening prior to the day school
resumes following the holiday. In odd years, the mother shall have the children on
Christmas day at 5:00 p.m. until the evening prior to the day school resumes following
the holiday;
d. When mother is traveling with Shanon Stark, in connection with over-the-road
trucking, mother shall be permitted to have partial physical custody of the children when
such trucking activities bring her to the Carlisle area and may even take the children,
from time to time, with her on such over-the-road trips, provided that mother gives father
at least forty-eight hours' notice of such intention to exercise physical custody and
provided the children do not miss any school and provided that the children do not have
any previously scheduled activities for themselves or that father did not have any
previously scheduled activities with the children. Mother shall insure that, when the
children are transported in Shanon Stark's commercial vehicle, the children will be
transported in compliance with all federal rules and regulations and any other rules of the
jurisdiction where the children are present; and
e. Each summer beginning the second Saturday after school concludes until the
second Saturday preceding the commencement of the new school year.
3. Mother shall be responsible for transportation arrangements and costs.
.I -,.
4. The father shall install a video camera on his computer at his residence so that the
children may have liberal contact with their mother via computer cameras.
BY THE COURT,
W04
Hess, J.
/Mark A. Mateya, Esquire
For the Plaintiff
,A56chael Scherer, Esquire
For the Defendant
J
Am
01V IV
0'
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
IV
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYVLANIA
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
CIVIL ACTION - LAW
NO. 05-4004 CIVIL TERM
IN RE: TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
Proceedings held before the
HONORABLE KEVIN A. HESS, J.
Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
on Friday, June 2, 2006, commencing at 9:30 a.m.
in Courtroom Number Four
APPEARANCES:
Mark A. Mateya, Esquire
For the Plaintiff
Michael A. Scherer, Esquire
For the Defendant
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INDEX TO WITNESSES
FOR THE PLAINTIFF DIRECT C ROSS REDIRECT RECROSS
Mary Jo Devlin, 3 5 --
on qualifications
Mary Jo Devlin 7 20 26 --
Julie Garman 88 94 96 --
Josh Garman 97 99 -- --
Marvin Lang 100 -- -- --
Rhonda Lang 106 -- -- --
Patricia Auckerman 108 115 -- --
Foster Auckerman 117 -- -- --
Jason Gordon 119 132 --
FOR THE DEFENDANT
Jennifer Gordon 28 56 77 --
Shannon Stark 80 87 -- --
INDEX TO EXHIBI TS
FOR THE PLAINTIFF MARKED ADMITTED
Ex. No. 1 - curriculum vitae 4 138
Ex. No. 2 - e-mail dated 4/6/05 57 138
Ex. No. 3 - school district 71 138
information
Ex. No. 4 - letter dated 5/30/06 75 138
Ex. No. 5 - Dakota' s report card 129 138
FOR THE DEFENDANT
Ex. No. 1 - map of Texas 3 88
Ex. No. 2 - real estate 3 88
information
2
• •
1 (Whereupon, Defendant's Exhibit Nos. 1 and 2
2 were marked for identification.)
3 THE COURT: The mother is the moving party?
4 MR. SCHERER: Actually the father filed a
5 petition to modify because he was aware of mother's
6 intention to move later this summer to Texas, so that's how
7 we're here. The scheduling order directs that mother is to
8 proceed initially.
9 Mr. Mateya tells me this morning that one of his
10 witnesses, a counselor, has some scheduling issues herself
11 today, and he asked that she be permitted to testify first
12 which my client is agreeable to.
13 THE COURT: Okay. All right. We'll hear
14 from that person first.
15 MR. MATEYA: Thank you, Your Honor.
16 THE COURT: Go ahead.
17 MR. MATEYA: I would like to call Mary Jo
18 Devlin to the stand.
19 Whereupon,
20 MARY JO DEVLIN
21 having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
22 DIRECT EXAMINATION
23 ON QUALIFICATIONS
24 BY MR. MATEYA:
25 Q Ms. Devlin, if you can't hear anything that I
3
• •
1 say, please ask me to repeat it. I'm fighting a little bit
2 of a cough this morning.
3 Ms. Devlin, could you state your name for the
4 record.
5 A Mary Jo Devlin.
6 Q And your address?
7 A My work address?
8 Q Your professional address.
9 A 3507 Market Street, Camp Hill.
10 Q And you are a certified family therapist. Is
11 that correct?
12 A Yes.
13 MR. MATEYA: Your Honor, what I would like to
14 present is Ms. Devlin's CV, and shall I mark these -- we're
15 technically the Petitioner. Mark this Petitioner 1?
16 THE COURT: The caption is quite clear as to
17 who is Plaintiff and who is Defendant, so that probably
18 would be the easiest way to mark it. Your client is the
19 Plaintiff in the caption.
20 (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 1 was
21 marked for identification by Mr. Mateya.)
22 BY MR. MATEYA:
23 Q Ms. Devlin, could you tell us a little bit
24 about your educational background?
25 A Well, I have a Master's in social work, and I
4
• •
1 have a post-Master's in family therapy. Throughout the
2 three decades I've been practicing, I've worked in a wide
3 variety of medical and psychiatric settings, worked a lot in
4 children's hospitals.
5 Before coming to Pittsburgh three years ago, I was
6 full-time faculty at the University of Pittsburgh Medical
7 Center, and I also have clinical faculty appointments at the
8 University of Pittsburgh Medical School for ten years and at
9 Hershey Penn State Medical School for ten years.
10 Q So your education and your practice it sounds
11 like sort of blended together?
12 A Right, between educator and clinician.
13 Q And how -- for how many years have you been a
14 clinician?
15 A I think thirty-five.
16 MR. MATEYA: That's close enough. That's
17 fine. Thank you. Your Honor, at this time I would like to
18 move Ms. Devlin in as an expert.
19 THE COURT: Mr. Scherer, do you have any
20 questions on qualifications?
21 CROSS-EXAMINATION
22 ON QUALIFICATIONS
23 BY MR. SCHERER:
24 Q You're a certified family therapist. Is that
25 right?
5
1 A That's right.
2 Q And where did you receive your certification?
3 A University of Pittsburgh graduate school of
4 social work. In order to apply for that degree, you have to
5 have a Master's in one of the behavioral sciences,
6 psychology, social work, it could be an MD as well. It's a
7 two-year program.
8 Q Is there a requirement that you be licensed
9 in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?
10 A To be a certified family therapist?
11 Q Right.
12 A No, there is requirement that you be -- in
13 order to receive third party payments from insurance
14 companies -- that you be a licensed clinical social worker,
15 and that requires an exam and proof of ongoing continuing
16 education credits every year, and you have to be supervised
17 for -- I don't know how many hours, a zillion hours.
18 I've been licensed for a couple decades now.
19 That's how you get your license, through a number of
20 supervised hours, taking an exam, and demonstrating that you
21 have so many continuing education credits per year.
22 Q I'm confused. Are you licensed or not
23 licensed?
24 A I'm a licensed clinical social worker. To be
25 a certified family therapist, you do not need a license, you
6
•
•
1 just need a certification from a school that gives a
2 two-year program in that discipline for people who already
3 have a Master's degree in one of the behavioral sciences.
4 MR. SCHERER: I'll agree, Your Honor, that
5 she can testify as an expert as a certified family
6 therapist.
7 THE COURT: All right. Very well.
8 MR. MATEYA: Thank you, Your Honor.
9 DIRECT EXAMINATION
10 BY MR. MATEYA:
11 Q Ms. Devlin, you have counseled separated
12 parents in the past. Is that correct?
13 A Yes.
14 Q And counseled with children in the past of
15 separating families?
16 A Yes.
17 Q A few times, many times?
18 A Well, we're talking thirty years. I guess
19 we're talking hundreds of families.
20 Q Okay. All right. Can you tell the Court how
21 you know the Gordons?
22 A Jason and Jennifer came to me for couple's
23 counseling initially. It appeared to be Jason's interest
24 primarily that this service be obtained, and I saw the
25 couple initially and then as part of the couple's counseling
7
• •
1 I saw Jen Gordon's parents.
2 Then when it was established that the marriage
3 could not be salvaged and there wasn't an interest on the
4 couple's part to do any ongoing work on how to dismantle the
5 relationship in as dignified way as possible and as little
6 damage to the children, I began seeing Jason individually
7 who had concerns about the children post-separation.
8 I had concerns about Jen's paramour who was
9 introduced to the kids pretty early on and how to handle
10 that situation and then who continued with me to express his
11 worries about Jen and Shannon's plan to take the children to
12 Texas.
13 Q All right. Let me jump back to those initial
14 meetings.
15 A Um-hum.
16 Q Could you give me your impression of Jason at
17 that early point?
18 A Well, at that point he was extremely anxious
19 about changes in Jen's lifestyle. She was going out at
20 night partying during the week, weekends, coming in late and
21 he felt abandoned and also threatened, and he felt that it
22 was tearing the fabric of their relationship and that they
23 needed some help to sort that out.
24 Q Was it your impression at that time that
25 Jason was putting the children first?
8
• •
1 A Yes.
2 Q What was your impression of Jennifer those
3 early meetings?
4 A At the very onset I wasn't sure about that,
5 but one of the things that came out in talking with her
6 individually is that she saw Jason as a good person, as a
7 good father, as a good friend.
8 I didn't hear her say anything substantively
9 negative about him as a father but that she felt that she
10 needed some time to experience the single life that she
11 never had in high school.
12 She had a steady boyfriend. She moved in with a
13 boyfriend I think after high school. I'm not sure exactly
14 about that, then moved back in with mother, and then shortly
15 thereafter got involved with Jason.
16 So she never had any single time, and that her
17 forays into the bar scene, the night life of Harrisburg, had
18 to do with claiming that unlived life for herself.
19 Q All right. Good. Thank you. Somewhere
20 after that first meeting, not during the very first initial
21 meeting, you did meet with the children. Is that correct?
22 A No, I did not meet with the children, not
23 after that first meeting.
24 Q Okay.
25 A I met with the children later.
9
• •
1 Q That was later on. Okay. All right. Let me
2 then -- I'll come back to that in a momen t. The subs$quent
3 meetings with the Gordons, why would you continue to meet if
4 the marriage was failing. Is this simply for the children?
5 I want to make sure I understand that.
6 A Well, after I met with Jen individually, it
7 was clear to me that she really didn't want to make the
8 marriage work. As a couple's therapist, one of the first
9 things that you have to establish is has either person in
10 the couple in their heart of hearts absolutely decided that
11 the marriage is over because if that's the case, we can't
12 drag the other party through couple' s therapy and have them
13 work on intimacy building, conflict negotiation, etc., if,
14 in fact, it's going to be futile.
15 As long as one person hasn't absolutely made up
16 their mind to abdicate the marriage, you can work with that.
17 In fact, most people come in wondering whether they're still
18 in love with each other, whether the marriage can be saved,
19 but as long as both people have it in their heart of hearts
20 decided this isn 't going to go, you can see if that marriage
21 can be repaired into something that the couple would want to
22 stay in.
23 But after that meeting with Jen, it was my
24 impression that she really in her heart of hearts did hot
25 want to be married to Jason, and so I encouraged her to be
10
0 •
1 up front about that. I didn't see any possibility to do
2 couple's work.
3 However, in a situation like that, if one p rson
4 has already made up their mind that they don't want to
5 repair the marriage, there's still work that the coupe's
6 therapist can do in helping the couple to dismantle tle
7 marriage in a way that does the least amount of damage to
8 everyone involved.
9 The children, the in-laws, for example, and so I
10 was prepared to do that kind of work, but -- I think had
11 one conference -- I did have one conference with Jen and
12 Gordon around how to talk to the children about this,'I,but
13 Jen was confident that the children would not have much of a
14 problem with the separation, that they would be able to
15 manage this fine.
16 Q And what's your opinion about that?
17 A Well, there's a couple things involved. The
18 grandparents have been involved with these children since
19 infancy, and I believe that one of the reasons that the
20 children have done as well in negotiating trying to live in
21 two households and getting used to the separation bet een
22 mom and dad is because they have grandparents who werelthere
23 constantly, so they've been a kind of glue to keep the kids
24 together.
25 I think these children are both very resilie t in
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their temperament, but the influence of the grandparents,
especially the grandmother, as a caretaker in providi g
constancy throughout this whole process it pivotal to their
success so far.
I was worried initially around the time tha was
decided between Jen and Gordon that this separation w s
going to happen because Gordon was imploding some.
Q I'm sorry to interrupt. You mean Jaso ?
A I'm sorry, Jason.
Q Just for the record I wanted to make t at
correct.
A I'm sorry.
Q That's fine.
A There was a time when it was apparent 't
wasn't so much that Jen was exploring the single life as she
had a relationship with somebody that she wanted to p rsue,
and during that time was leaving the house that she a d
Jason shared to be with this person at night, taking er
belongings and her luggage, and it was just completel
humiliating for Jason.
He was able to keep it together for the kids, but
it was a meltdown. He felt emotionally drained. What he
wanted was for her to get a place of her own and for h r
be leaving from -- instead of leaving from their share
residence where their kids were to go someplace else.
to
12
• •
1 So I think at that time he was pretty broke and
2 stressed. He was certainly able to carry on his fath rly
3 duties, but emotionally he was pretty beaten up and, f
4 course, that trickles down to the children.
5 Q Sure. Sure. Thank you. Am I correctjthat
6 you did have one final meeting rather recently with t e
7 Gordons?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Why was that?
10 A Well, Jason had said that he wanted me4 o
11 meet with them to talk about his concerns around the
12 children going to Texas, which I had already discussed with
13 Jen earlier on.
14 This was -- this was when it was clear that'Ishe
15 was in a relationship with Shannon and was thinking of
16 taking them to Texas, and I put out my belief that this
17 would be very deleterious to the children emotionally,,, to
18 separate them from their father and grandparents.
19 And the kind of arrangement that she had in mind,
20 I said that if Shannon, who was really a newcomer on he
21 scene and hadn't known these children that long, was
22 somebody she expected to be committed to these boys, %hy
23 couldn't he be open to the idea of continuing to work in
24 Pennsylvania rather than taking these boys out of
25 Pennsylvania and subjecting them to a lot of emotional
13
1 chaos.
2 We had a final meeting about that subject i the
3 end of March, and I put that out again, that I felt t e
4 separation was going to be more than the boys could h ndle.
5 I had already met the boys, and their idea of going tb Texas
6 was, yippee, this is going to be a gas. We're going ?o have
7 a ball. Mom and Shannon say this is going to be a gr?at
8 adventure, but they have no idea of what the emotional
9 repercussions of that are.
10 Q And the children are four and six year old?
11 A They're four and six, and they simply on't
12 have the emotional and cognative skills to developmen ally
13 handle that kind of a separation.
14 Q Can you tell me -- is there anything specific
15 that you can tell me about when a child can handle th s? Is
16 there some standards that are used in your professionllto
17 help gauge at this age this is not damaging because of x, y,
18 and z. Can you comment on that?
19 A Well, I rely heavily on the work of Ca?vin
20 Calarusso. He's a psychiatrist and child and adolescent
21 psychoanalyst who wrote a textbook in 1992 that's a classic
22 called Child and Adolescent Development. It's requir d
23 reading in a lot of child psychology classes and a to of
24 psychoanalytic institutes. It's a masterpiece.
25 In this work he reviews the work of Margaret
14
1 Mahler and Richard Spitz who were groundbreaking pioneers as
2 child development theorists and concentrated in the area of
3 separated individuation processes.
4 By that I mean what allows children to move from a
5 symbiotic relationship with mother to being more autonomous,
6 independent, healthy human being. They pay a lot of
7 attention to what premature separations can do to a c?ild
8 emotionally undermining their ability ultimately to bl as
9 autonomous in risk taking in a healthy way as possibl.
10 The guidelines for the latency age, which is --
11 or, I'm sorry, the oedipal age, which is where Noah a?d
12 Dakota are right now, is one week.
13 Q Could you explain what you mean by the,one
14 week?
15 A To be away from a caretaker who is a primary
16 object where there has been a long history of nurtura ce and
17 protection. Now, this is -- you can't write this in tone.
18 Some children are much more resilient than others.
19 Q Sure.
20 A But young children -- I mean, you get his
21 ability as you grow older -- don't have all of what y Du call
22 object constancy. A baby, if mother goes away, can't say --
23 if it's six months old -- mother is not here, but I k ow
24 mother is coming back. I know I have a mother, and s e'll
25 be here. They just don't have that ability. Mother as to
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appear when they cry and they're distressed for them to know
I have a mama. I'm safe. I'm okay.
Q Okay.
A And even at age three, children -- an four,
children don't have that. If a primary caregiver is way
for a long period of time, they can't see that caregi er or
touch that caregiver and see in that caregiver's eyes that
the caregiver sees them and understands what they're
feeling, they can't say, Well, I know I'm going to se? mom
in five weeks because that's what she tells me on the phone
and I know I can feel loved and secure. It doesn't work.
They can't do that.
Q And at their age presently, four and six,
you're saying they can't do that?
A Dakota has a better ability than Noah,ll but
Noah's ability is pretty nilch. They are separated from
their parents now. Jen has taken vacations, so has Jlason,
but one of the things that is very important here to
remember is the grandparents' influence as primary
caretakers who have been there since they were infants to
allow that kind of thing to happen without any negative
emotional repercussions.
Q And speaking of that, what do you think would
likely happen to the children emotionally and
psychologically if they moved to Texas?
16
•
•
1 A Well, my picture is that initially they would
2 be very excited about the adventure, and they would g t
3 there and they would be eager because it's been marke ed so
4 positively by Jen and Shannon to make it a success.
5 Everybody is going to be happy there. We'rkle all
6 going to have a good time. We're going to have adventures
7 together. They'll be psyched for that to happen. Whet they
8 don't see coming up behind them is a grief reaction. II,
9 Within a couple weeks they're going to be
10 experiencing mourning for the people they left behindl, and
11 they're going to be in a very difficult emotional bond in
12 that they're going to be trying to fuse with a new fanily
13 and a new town and a whole new evironment and at the IOame
14 time they're trying to say good-bye to people who arelleft
15 behind.
16 It's like -- this isn't quite a good analogy, but
17 it's like a mother who's trying to bond with a baby ih utero
18 right after her mother has died or a child that goes :off to
19 college right after a parent dies.
20 You're trying to begin something new, fuse lith a
21 new environment when you have a lot of unfinished emotional
22 business connected with other people from another place. So
23 that would just not be a good place for these kids tolbe
24 in.
25 I will predict that they will go through atl least
17
1 three months of mourning if they were down in Texas, at
2 least, for father and grandparents, which it may then begin
3 to resolve but as soon as that's resolved they would e sent
4 someplace else and begin a mourning process for the folks
5 that were left behind. So you have a children in a c ronic
6 state of mourning.
7 Q Have you seen this in your practice?
8 A Yes, I have.
9 Q And how does this normally play out? Its it
10 -- I mean every child is different, I suppose.
11 A Well, kids get symptoms. They have -- their
12 school performance is impaired often. Sometimes they have
13 medical symptoms. Stomach aches are a biggie. There's a
14 whole panoply of things that can happen, but it's ask'ng
15 children to tackle an emotional task that they don't ave
16 the emotional constitution to take care of.
II
17 Q Okay. Now, you've -- several times you've
18 mentioned Shannon. Have you met with Shannon also?
19 A No.
20 Q Okay. Just a few more questions. In a
21 situation like this, should the children be involved in
22 making the decision and helping make this decision?
23 A Absolutely not.
24 Q And why not?
25 A Well, a six year old can't make an informed
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decision. He's just -- he's not even quite at the ag of
reason. He doesn't even have much of a conscious. T at's
one thing. He just -- he can't even imagine what it' going
to be like to be separated on those grounds. It's no
within his realm of reality because he's never gone t rough
it. He's in la la land about what Texas is going to e
like.
Q Okay.
A The other thing is I'm concerned that if he
is lured into the decision making and things go awry, he's
going to somehow feel, no matter what the outcome is, that
he should have done something to prevent whatever bad
happens.
Being separated from daddy when he's with mother
and for mother when he's with daddy, or if this doesn't work
out and mother goes to Texas without him, he was brought
into the picture. He was questioned.
Maybe he should have said something that would
have made a big difference because kids at this age can feel
pretty omnipotent. They feel they have more power over how
things evolve than they actually do, so I would not want
this kid -- I firmly believe this child should not be lured
into the decision-making process in this at all.
Q Okay.
A This is for the adults to work out.
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Q Okay. Last question. Is this case ui
A From my point of view, yes.
Q And why is that?
A I, to be honest with you, have never r
mother who just -- how can I put this -- just could r
that this would be problematic for a child because wt
have talked to Jen about it, it's like knocking on a
man's door.
Her belief is that this kind of arrangement
not be bad for the children as long as the adults ini
don't complain about it and are positive about it, ar
honest with you in the thirty years of practicing Vi
heard a mother say that, could imagine that it could
and everything would be hunky-dory.
MR. MATEYA: Okay. Your Honor, I havf
further questions at this time. Thank you, Ms. Devl'
CROSS-EXAMINATION
BY MR. SCHERER:
Q Can you tell me -- I'm just a little
confused. When did the -- when did your involvement
this family begin?
A In March of 2005.
Q And the purpose was to address the mar
status between Jen and Jason?
A Correct.
a
get
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of
will
lved
to be
never
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vith
ital
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Q And do you know who made the appointm
meet with you?
A Jason did. I think he did.
Q Are you sure about that or are you as
A You know what, I can't remember.
Q And are you actively counseling this
now or is your association with the family basically
completed?
A Well, I saw Jason and Jen in the spring.
saw the boys, Dakota and Noah, in the winter. I saw of
them. Jason wanted me to check them out just to see ow
they felt about this whole Texas thing.
If they had a problem, he said maybe if the
talked to somebody else, they'll come across differently
found them both to be very healthy boys emotionally, ?ga
very positive about Texas.
I
to
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h of
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in
Q How many sessions did you have with th? boys
themselves?
A I had two with Dakota and one with Noah.
Q Regarding the information that you got about
Jennifer going out at night, where did you get that
information?
A From both of them.
Q And how frequently was she going out at night
while she was still living in the marital residence?
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A I don' t have that document.
Q Isn't it true that she was only going Out on
weekends?
A That may be the case.
Q Do you remember her telling you that s e
would go out after the children were in bed?
A That maybe the case, but -- that may b the
case, but it was -- it was for Jason a humiliation.
Q Let me ask you this. Was there any ha m to
the children that came out of that, any direct harm?
A Well, they have two kids. Jason was s
dispirited by this, especially since he felt that -- e
couldn't figure out what he had done to deserve this
situation. I mean, Jen had fallen out of love with him, but
he wasn't getting feedback that he had been a failurelas a
husband or a father, so he just felt very betrayed ani he
was walking around with a knife in his heart.
So does it have an effect on the kids, yes,l
because I believe kids can feel that energy. They ca feel
that sadness in a parent. He didn't talk to the kids about
it, but this is a small family unit, so --
Q So any of the harm would have come through
Jason's reaction to the situation involving he and Je ?
A Yes.
Q You had indicated that children of thi age
22
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1 would begin to miss people in their lives after a very short
2 period of time if those people were removed from them life.
3 Is that right?
4 A Yes.
5 Q Wouldn't it be true then that if Jasonltook a
6 trip for two weeks on business or for whatever reasonlthat
7 you would expect the children to miss him and ask forhim
8 when he's away?
9 A They could miss him, but don't forget ?he
10 influence of the grandparents. The grandparents are here
11 constantly. One person is there there constantly,
12 constantly, constantly, constantly. Now, nobody can ?e
13 there constantly. People get sick and have to run tollthe
14 hospital, but there's where the constancy has been.
15 Q Are you familiar with Jen's plans whenlshe
16 moves to Texas regarding employment and care for the II,
17 children?
18 A No. I know that originally she wanted Jason
19 to move with her to Texas and leave his job and his f iends
20 to be available to the children, which, of course, wal out
21 of the question for Jason.
22 Q In order to render a valid opinion, wo ldn't
23 it be important for you to know what her intentions are
24 regarding work and exposure to the children when she' in
25 Texas with them?
23
1 A No.
2 Q So the fact that she would intend to g, to
3 Texas and not be employed and be a stay-at-home mom and be
4 the constant caregiver for them, that wouldn't have a
5 effect on you r opinion?
6 A That would be great, but all that I've'iheard
7 is that they would live in Texas part of the time an& they
8 would live in Pennsylvania part of the time.
9 Q The children?
10 A The children.
11 Q But you mentioned a steady caregiver in their
12 life and you mentioned the grandparents?
13 A Yes.
14 Q If Jennifer is with the children all week
15 because she d oesn't have to work, wouldn't she be thellisteady
16 caregiver tha t you're referring to?
17 A Yes, she would be the steady caregiverY but
18 the children are also ferociously attached to their
19 grandparents and their father; so as much as the children
20 would benefit from that caregiving, they would also b
21 missing their dad and the grandparents, and phone cal .s
22 don't do it f or kids that age. It helps, but it does not do
23 it.
24 Q And obviously as these children grow older
25 and understan d more, some of the concerns that you have
24
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1 would be diminished. Is that right?
2 A Not necessarily. I have adults in my
3 practice who are very cool, sophisticated, mature,
4 accomplished professionals who present with -- I can't say
5 this is all the time, but I've had cases where their chief
6 complaint is that when their partner goes away on a b?siness
7 trip, they feel an extreme sense of abandonment.
8 They feel neurotic. They feel like crazy
9 children. They feel like they're going to be abandoned.
10 That's absurd. Their partner has really not done anything
11 that would indicate that they're going to be unfaithful when
12 they're away or when they come back they're going to feel
13 any different.
14 This is not an unusual complaint to find inl,a
15 psychotherapy practice with adults. Usually these pe?ple
16 are mortified that they feel this way, and they want to get
17 rid of it; but when you start digging into their
18 psychological history, it has to do with having had
19 separations as children that they simply couldn't
20 accommodate emotionally.
21 They may have been brave little soldiers st ying
22 away from being separated from mother for long period of
23 time, but inside there's an emotional collapse that
24 reverberates through adulthood and creates complexes hat
25 bring them to psychotherapists. This is a big deal.
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Q
to go to Texas
A
The boys have expressed to you that they want
Is that right? I
Yes.
MR. SCHERER: Thank you. I don't have any
other questions.
MR. MATEYA: Just one clarification,
perhaps it was just my error.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. MATEYA:
Q Attorney Scherer asked you how you kne?
Jennifer was going out at night, and how did you finds'that
out? Did you say that was directly from Jennifer?
A Well, when I would see the couple together,
that was a big bone of contention, and Jennifer was trying
to reassure Jason that nothing was happening. She wasn't
flirting with other guys or involved with another guy. He
should chill out.
This really had to do with her claiming a life
that she never had after high school, which was, you now,
going out and partying and experimenting with differe t
relationships and just being out and about, and she saw this
as a way of developing her self-confidence.
She talked about being a shy, introverted person
earlier on, and now she was experiencing facets of herself
that were very extroverted. So I mean both of them talked
26
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1 about the fact that yeah, she was out and about at that
2 time. It wasn't just weekends, it was during the wee and
3 Jason was getting really paranoid.
4 MR. MATEYA: Okay. Thank you. Your Honor, I
5 have no futher questions.
6 MR. SCHERER: No recross, Your Honor.
7 THE COURT: Ms. Devlin, as you're well1aware
8 in these cases -- Dakota is six -- that's about the age when
9 the judge would feel obliged to speak to a child, andunless
10 I'm asked to do otherwise, the greater likelihood is that I
11 will at least speak to Dakota.
12 I will make it very clear to him that this is not
13 his decision to make, but it's obviously important tome if
14 I find out through him that mom is telling him that, you
15 know, chocolate bars grow on trees in Texas.
16 Do you see any harm in that process, just learning
17 a little about the lad, and I certainly would not dweil on
18 the Texas business. I'm more interested in what he likes to
19 do in school and who his friends are.
20 THE WITNESS: As long as it's very clear to
21 him that this is not his decision to make. That's to? much
22 of a responsibility for a child that age.
23 THE COURT: Okay. Fine. Thank you.
24 THE WITNESS: Okay.
25 MR. SCHERER: Jennifer Gordon.
27
•
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1 Whereupon,
2 JENNIFER JOY GORDON
3 having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
4 DIRECT EXAMINATION
5 BY MR. SCHERER :
6 Q Can you tell us your name, please.
7 A Jennifer Joy Gordon.
8 Q And your address?
9 A 81 Buttonwood Drive, Dillsburg, Pennsylvania,
10 17019.
11 Q You're the mother of Dakota and Noah?
12 A Correct.
13 Q Can you tell me who else resides with you at
14 81 Buttonwood Drive?
15 A Shannon Stark.
16 Q And his relationship to you?
17 A Fiance.
18 Q Tell me a little bit about your employment.
19 Who do you wor k for?
20 A Capital Blue Cross.
21 Q And what's your position with them?
22 A Provider Relations Representative.
23 Q What kinds of things do you do for them?
24 A I go out to doctor's offices and expla?n
25 guidelines, po licies, procedures.
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Q And how long have you been with Capital Blue
Cross?
A Nine years.
Q You were married to Jason on October 11th,
1997?
A Correct.
Q And when did you separate?
A April 30th, 2005.
Q And is there a divorce action pending?i
A I
Correct.
Q And what's the status of that?
A I believe it's still pending. It's ju t
pending. He hasn't signed.
Q Okay. Does Jason have a female friend ?
A Correct.
Q What's her name?
A Monica.
Q And how long has he been seeing her?
A I'm not sure. I have no idea.
Q The two of you had lived together in al
marital residence, you and Jason, in Mount Holly. Is that
right?
A Um-hum.
Q What street address was that?
A 304 McLand Road.
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Q And about what period of time did you live
there?
A From January '99 to April 30th, '05.
Q All right. And then you left that pro erty
first. Is that right?
A Correct.
Q Can you just tell the Court a little bit
about the circumstances of you leaving there?
A Well, back in May or March when we started
with Mary Jo in counseling, at that time we attended
couple counseling sessions. We remained in the house old
most of March and the rest of April.
At that time, middle of April, we decided t at we
would start with the -- I would have the boys Monday and
Tuesday. He would have them Wednesday and Thursday aO
every other weekend. We did that.
Q Is that while you were still living there?
A Correct. So he would have them, like I said,
Monday and Tuesday. I was still living there. I would come
home, sleep on the couch. Everything was separate. It was
like roommates.
He would then go out Wednesdays and Thursdays or
come home, depending on what his schedule allowed. T en
there was -- probably the last week or probably two w eks
prior to that going out on the weekends, whether it w uld
30
•
1 have been him or myself at that time. When he came home, he
2 asked me to leave.
3 Q Okay.
4 A So then I would have to leave the house and
5 go someplace else for the night.
6 Q You heard Ms. Devlin testify that she as
7 given information that you were going out, doing the ar
8 scene. Can you comment on that?
9 A We both did. It wasn't ever -- it wasn't
10 during the week. It was on weekends at the most once,a
11 month. I would get together with girlfriends. He would do
12 the same thing.
13 It would be when the boys -- I would try to feed
14 them, put them to bed, then I would go out. There weren't
15 too many times where I would go out before they were 'n bed.
16 Q All right. Who contacted Mary Jo Devlin to
17 set up the counseling appointment?
18 A I did.
19 Q And whose idea was it to go see Mary
20 Devlin, if either of you?
21 A I don't really think it was one more
22 other. I said, you know, being that it was my insux
23 I knew how to handle those sort of things, I said I'
24 ahead with marriage counseling. I know who to contE
25 I made the appointment for us to go.
an the
ce and
go
and
31
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1 Q All right. So you had an arrangement then as
2 your marriage d eteriorated where you would be responsible
3 for the boys Monday and Tuesday, Jason would Wednesday and
4 Thursday, and t hen you would share the weekends?
5 A Correct.
6 Q And you're saying that you essentially were
7 roommates with Jason at that point?
8 A Correct.
9 Q And what happened thereafter?
10 A He would keep persistently asking me, did you
11 find a place? Did you find a place? During that whole
12 month of April I was looking for a place. I did find a
13 place and moved out May 1st.
14 Q All right. And that was the Buttonwood
15 address in Dillsburg that you gave?
16 A i Correct.
17 Q Tell me about Shannon Stark. When did ',you
18 begin to have a relationship with him?
19 A We were friends probably close to May. It
20 was around May we just started seeing each other more'as
21 friends. Then after awhile it developed into more.
22 Q All right. When did you begin to resiQie with
23 him?
24 A He moved in with me in September.
25 Q Of 2005?
32
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1 A Correct.
2 Q All right. How is he employed?
3 A He is an owner/operator truck driver.
4 Q And how long has he been doing that?
5 A As an owner/operator since September, but
6 he's been a truck driver for eight years.
7 Q And what kind of schedule does he have?
8 A It varies. Most of the time he leaves Sunday
9 night into Monday morning and then comes home Thursday night
10 or Friday.
11 Q The current custody arrangement that you
12 have, can you describe it?
13 A Mondays and Tuesdays their father has them,
14 Wednesdays and Thursdays I have them, and every other'
15 weekend we alternate.
16 Q So that's similar to what you did --
17 A It's exactly the same as what we did, yes.
18 It has not changed.
19 Q All right. The memorandum that was submitted
20 on behalf of Jason indicated that he's been the primary
21 caregiver of the children. Can you comment on that b?th
22 before you separated and after?
23 A I'm not real sure why the word primary is on
24 there. We both did everything equally. As far as be ore,
25 obviously I took the mother role. I was the one who ade
33
1 all the appointments, the doctor, the dentist, you know,
2 made the snack s, bought the yearbooks, did the fundraisers.
3 That was alway s what I was to do. As far as primary, you
4 know, I don't know. We both make roughly the same amount.
5 Q Of income?
6 A Correct. We spend the same amount of time
7 with them. I' m not sure why primary is listed.
g Q You mentioned some of the things that you did
9 or do with respect to caregiving. What about Jason?
10 A He did, you know, the typical dad role,, the
11 baseball, you know, the typical wrestling, playing with
12 them, you know, the normal dad things, I guess.
13 Q Okay. Tell me a little bit about Dakota.
14 What grade is he in?
15 A He's in first.
16 Q And he goes to which school?
17 A W.G. Rice Elementary.
18 Q And who is his teacher?
19 A Mrs. Geiger.
20 Q And how is he doing in school?
21 A Very well.
22 Q They don't get report cards at that ago
?
23
A I
Yes, um-hum.
24 Q Oh, do they? What type of marks --
25 A He has always, you know, the first marking
34
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1 period it's pretty standard, but each marking period he
2 increased each time as far as his grades.
3 Q Um-hum.
4 A His grades are great.
5 Q What are his strengths in school?
6 A He does like math, spelling. He's an
7 excellent speller, pretty much everything. I would say the
8 only thing he's struggling with is his writing ability, and
9 that's just a possibility of being left-handed or a guy.
10 That's what the teacher indicated, but that's coming along.
11 Q He doesn't get any special help for that at
12 this point?
13 A No, huh-uh.
14 Q How has the shared custody affected his
15 education?
16 A Not at all.
17 Q Has the cooperation level been good?
18 A Um-hum. We attend conferences. His father
19 and I both attend the school conferences together.
20 Q Is Dakota's homework done properly?
21 A Most of the time. I know it is with me.
22 That's one thing we do every weekend. It's also due On a
23 Monday. I have him do it Saturday or Sunday. There ?ave
I
24 been two instances where his homework was either not one or
25 it was done but there were a lot of mistakes on it when he
35
1 was with his father.
2 Q How did you become aware of that?
3 A All his homework or all his papers in general
4 are sent back to us in his folder and then we interchange
5 them.
6 Q All right. Do you try to maintain
7 consistency with Dakota as far as what school supplies he
8 needs and making provisions for his lunch?
9 A Yes, absolutely. As far as school supplies,
10 there's really nothing. The folder is provided to hind. He
11 has a backpack. I bought him a new lunch box because his
12 was falling apart, so I went out and bought him a new'lunch
13 box. Before that he was carrying the same ratty one around.
14 Q All right. Do you enjoy interacting with
15 Dakota in relation to his school work and his school
16 activities?
17 A Yes, that's one of my favorite things to do
18 is be with him watching him do his homework, watching him
19 learn. That's something I really enjoy doing.
20 Q What activities is Dakota in?
21 A Currently he is in baseball, he takes
22 swimming lessons, and he has soccer that he does.
23 Q And does he have any interests outsidelof
24 those athletic events?
25 A No more than the typical boy. He does have a
j
36
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1 dirt bike that he rides, and I know he enjoys doing that.
2 He rides his bike at my house. He plays basketball at my
3 house.
4 Q Okay. Tell us a little bit about Noah.
5 What's his personality like?
6 A Well, he's still a little young. He pretty
7 much -- he wants to do everything his brother does, so
8 whatever he sees his brother outside doing, that's what he
9 tries to do, whether it be ride his bike, roller skate,
10 skateboard. Whatever is around he tries to get involved.
11 Q And he's too young for organized activities?
12 A At this time. I could probably sign him up
13 for T ball, but that would be it right now.
14 Q What's the typical week like for Noah?' Is he
15 involved in any educational programs?
16 A He attended Otterbein -- the church out on
17 Forge Road - - Nursery School, Little Friends Nursery School,
18 Tuesday and Thursday from 9 to 11:30.
19 Q Okay. Did you have a birthday party for Noah
20 recently?
21 A Correct. We went to Chuck E. Cheese.
22 Q And do you want to tell us about thatT Who
23 planned it? What happened?
24 A I planned it. That's something again
that
25 I've always done. I did all the planning, preparation for
37
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1 parties, picnics, activities. I sent out the invitations.
2 I had asked who wanted to attend.
3 I had sent Jason an email saying I was going to
4 have a birthday party. He's more than welcome to come. I
5 invited Monica and her son, Dean. He said no, none of the
6 three would be coming.
7 We sent out invitations to the grandparents and
8 aunts and uncles and the cousins probably a few days -- it
9 might have even been a week before we were doing the
10 invitations, and the children noticed there wasn't one for
11 dad.
12 And I'm very honest with them. I don't try to
13 sugarcoat anything. I said I sent daddy an e-mail. Him and
14 Monica and Dean are not able to attend, but I'll send them
15 another e-mail. So I sent him another e-mail explaining to
16 him I really would like him to be there.
17 He has no obligation to pay for anything. I will
18 pay for everything. The invitations were sent out. Just
19 show up. Just be there. He wrote back later on and said
20 yes, he would be there, but Dean and Monica would not be
21 attending.
22 Q Can you tell us what the arrangements Ere for
23 them through the week? Like Monday morning what happens
24 with the two boys?
25 A Well, depending -- I can start with Monday.
I
38
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1 Depending on who had them that weekend, for example, if I
2 had them on the weekend, Sunday, I would get up Monday,
3 morning, drop them off at my parents' house.
4 Monday afternoon Jason would pick the boys up. He
5 would take them home. He would have them Tuesday morning,
6 drop them off at my parents, pick them up Tuesday night.
7 Then Wednesday morning drop them off, and those were his
8 days, that Monday and Tuesday.
9 Wednesday after school, after work, I would pick
10 them up Wednesday. They would come back with me. Thursday
11 I would take them back to my parents, pick them up on
12 Thursday after school and work again.
13 Friday they would go back, and then I would pick
14 them up again Friday if I had them for that weekend, or
15 since I took them that Sunday, you know, Sunday night into
16 Monday morning, it would now be his weekend, so he would
17 pick them up Friday evening.
18 Q Dakota gets the bus at your parents' house?
19 A Yes.
20 Q And is dropped off from the bus there?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And how does Noah get to Little Friends?
23 A My mother takes him.
24
Q You talked a little bit about what the boys
25 like to do. What types of activities do you do with (them,
39
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1 especially on the weekends?
2 A Well, it all depends on what's really going
3 on that weekend. We've done everything from car shows/truck
4 shows. We've taken them up to Fort Indiantown Gap to give
5 them a little bit about what that's about, military life.
6 We just recently, Saturday, took them to Williams
7 Grove to see
8 Gettysburg t
9 Memorial Day
10 Q
11 A
12 them that he
sprint car races. Memorial Day we took them to
D the battlefield and explained to them what
was and why we are at Gettysburg.
How does Shannon interact with the boys?
He's wonderful. He has portrayed an image to
is not there to replace their father. They
13 have a good father. None of us have ever said that he was
14 their father. That's not why we're here today.
15 He is their friend, their guardian. He
16 disciplines them just like any stepfather would do. The
17 kids understand why they're being disciplined. He's not any
18 more forceful with them than his father or I am.
19 Q How do the children react to Shannon?
20 A They react very well. They know we do a one,
21 two, three system. At three they get paddled or sent to
22 their room or time out. At the end of that we go in and
23 talk to them, and we get down at a level on our kneesland we
24 look them straight in the eye and ask them do you know why
25 you were disciplined, and they respond back. And if ',they
40
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1 don't, we again try to reiterate why we disciplined them.
2 Q How about activities and things like that,
3 does Shannon enjoy the presence of the boys?
4 A Yes. He attends Dakota's baseball games,
5 and, like I said, being on the road there are things that he
6 is not able to attend; but when there is something that he
7 can attend, he's there.
8 Q I want to back up for a minute and talk about
9 the day care provisions with your mother. Do you have any
10 comment on your mother's involvement as the day care
11 provider?
12 A When I was pregnant it was under the
13 understanding that -- she had worked at Phillips Office
14 Supplies, and she said that, you know, she would want to be
15 a caregiver for the children when I went back to work.
16 She did quit her job. She watched Noah from the
17 date when I went back to work after three months, twelve
18 weeks, and it's great. It is great to have a parent that
19 can watch your children.
20 I don't have to take them to a day care where
21 there's, you know, other kids and illnesses and, you know,
22 hitting and beating and all the things that go on in a day
23 care.
24 When the children are sick, I know I can still
25 take them to my mom's and I can go to work, whereas a
41
1 typical parent would have to take a day off work because
2 they're not allowed to take their kids to day care when they
3 are sick. So as far as that, it's wonderful.
4 As far as the emotional attachment, the boys see
5 my parents more so as a babysitter and not grandparents.
6 They don't know what it's like to get in the car and go
7 visit your grandparents. They have no idea what it's like
8 to go away on a weekend to visit them.
9 It's a holiday, so we pack up our suitcase and
10 food and go spend Thanksgiving with them. It's more or less
11 they're right down the road. They're coming over bringing
12 the same food we have all the time. You know, we are in
13 whoever's house is maybe spending Thanksgiving together, and
14 there's really no separation between the two.
15 Q You have a concern about that obviously?
16 A Yes, I do.
17 Q You have some plans for vacation this summer.
18 Is that right?
19 A Correct.
20 Q And those plans revolve around the custody
21 arrangement as it's set up right now. Is that right?
22 A More or less, yes. Being that it's hard to
23 take a weekly vacation because of how their father and I
24 have our schedule is one thing that him and I are very good
25 at. He's going to be going away here in two weeks.
42
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1 He needs to go for training for work the 5th
2 through the 16th, so I will have them for two weeks
3 straight. And, you know, given that there is a possibility
4 that there's no school, that would be the ideal time to take
5 them on vacation.
6 But given the fact that there is still school, and
7 I signed Dakota up for the YMCA to attend camp for one of
8 those weeks, however when his father come back a week after
9 that is a week that I have asked for him then to watch the
10 boys on my two days, Wednesday and Thursday, so that I can
11 then go to Texas and buy a house.
12 Q You had the children Memorial Day weekend
13 which was actually his weekend. Is that right?
14 A Correct.
15 Q Why did you have them that weekend?
16 A He asked me to. He had them last Memorial
17 Day. I had them Labor Day, and we were alternating
18 weekends, and he said he had plans and if I could watch the
19 boys for Memorial Day.
20 Q How do you feel about having them extra?
21 A I don't mind because we involve them in
22 everything we do. They're not -- they're not a burden. We
23 do not do anything that they cannot attend. If we have
24 plans to go to a picnic, they're there.
25 Even though the people that we may be going to
43
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1 visit don't have children, they accept them and they
2 actually lov e the idea that there are little kids running
3 around their yards.
4 A couple weeks ago friends of ours called, two
5 single guys, and wanted to watch a Nascar race. They had no
6 problem with us bringing the boys along. They sat in their
7 living room. They ate and did everything we did. So
8 they're not a burden. They love the adult interaction and
9 the differen t things that we do with them.
10 Q Okay. We're here today because it's your
11 intention to move them to Texas?
12 A Correct.
13 Q And when did you intend to move?
14 A In August, sometime in August.
15 Q All right. How long has it been your
16 intention to relocate to Texas?
17 A Probably a year, at least a year.
18 Q And what's your motivation for the move?
19 A Well, I've always wanted to move. I'm not a
20 cold weather person at all. I always wanted to move
21 somewhere wh ere it's warm. I had the opportunity to go for
22 a week with Shannon so that he could go visit his military
23 friends that he was in Iraq with. I met -- I went with him
24 and met his friends who are all family oriented. They have
25 children as well.
44
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1 Q Is there a group of families down there?
2 A There's three families --
3 Q All right.
4 A -- and they have children. I met them. I
5 fell in love with the place instantly. It was a very
6 close-knit group of friends that were more close-knit than
7 families I've seen, and again that probably stems from them
8 being in Iraq together, very, very close-knit. It's a
9 family-oriented neighborhood.
10 Q How many times have you been there?
11 A I've been there twice now.
12 Q And what's the name of the town?
13 A Harker Heights.
14 Q Actually I want to show you what's been
15 marked as Defendant's Exhibit 1, and this is a map of Texas,
16 right?
17 A Correct.
18 Q And where is Harker Heights located in Texas?
19 A It's about five miles from Fort Hood, the
20 military post.
21 Q What's the landscape there like?
22 A Lots of cactuses. Not your typical desert
23 like Texas. T hey have green grass and like, you know, it's
24 hot, but it's beautiful. There's playgrounds. There's
25 parks. There' s -- it's very family-oriented being that it
45
1 is a military base.
2 Q Is there -- have you investigated the
3 purchase of r eal estate in Harker Heights?
4 A Yes.
5 Q I want to show you what's been marked as
6 Defendant's E xhibit 2. Can you tell the Court what that is?
7 A These are houses that we have chosen that in
8 June, the end of June, the end of this month, we will be
9 going to pick one of them out to purchase.
10 Q And what type of home are you looking for?
11 A A single family home, backyard. Most of them
12 are fenced-in backyards. They have grass. It's not sand.
13 The normal th ree bedroom, two bath, possibly one, two
14 stories. The re's a variety of them.
15 Q And are you looking for anything in a
16 neighborhood setting?
17 A It's all neighborhood settings.
18 Q And how do the prices there compare to here?
19 A They're a lot more inexpensive. The cost of
20 living is dramatically less than it is here.
21 Q Attached to the information about the houses
22 is informatio n about the school system in Texas. Is that
23 right?
24 A Correct.
25 Q What school would Dakota go to and Noah
46
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1 eventually when you move there?
2 A Given that the area is big, Harker Heights
3 has two elementary schools. They have Mountain View
4 Elementary and Nolanville Elementary.
5 Q And have you researched both of those
6 schools?
7 A Correct.
8 Q And how do the schools compare to the other
9 schools in Texas regarding the performance of the students
10 and the student/teacher ratio?
11 A Both of those schools are two of the better
12 schools in the area. We've been told that actually by the
13 realtor. When I went to go online to start researching
14 realtors and houses, the realtor that I have currently, she
15 said that these are the two schools that we would most
16 likely want to reside in because they are the better of the
17 schools. They're better than average as far as statewide,
18 and they have a smaller teacher/student ratio.
19 Q What about your employment intentions in
20 Texas?
21 A I will not be working. Being that the income
22 or the price of land and houses and the way of life out
23 there is not that expensive like it is here, I won't have to
24 work.
25 I will be able to take the children to school,
47
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1 come home to everything that I need to in the home, prepare
2 meals, have all that, be able to pick them up in the
3 evening, then come home and have dinner.
4 Eventually, once the kids are more settled in
5 their school, I would like to either get a job working in
6 the school or volunteer somehow or possibly get a job on
7 post.
8 Q It's been alleged that you have told the
9 children that you're taking them to Texas?
10 A I've never told them that they are going.
11 When we talk about it, I always say it's not -- it's --
12 nothing is written in stone. I explain to them that it's
13 something that their father and I had to -- never said the
14 word court because obviously they're not going to know that,
15 but I told them that's something their father and I are
16 going to be talking about, and a judge will make the
17 decision whether the children should stay here with their
18 father during the school year, during summer, or vice versa,
19 if they should be in Texas for the school year.
20 Q Did you ever tell the children that Jason was
21 going to Texas with you?
22 A I never told the children that Jason was
23 going because I knew from the counseling sessions that he
24 wasn't going. He made that very clear.
25 Q Did you ever make promises to the boys to try
48
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1 to entice them to desire going to Texas with you.)
2 A They weren't promised. There are -- things
3 would come up where they would think that if they moved they
4 would get it. For instance, I wanted to buy them a
5 trampoline for the backyard, and we were looking at
6 trampolines.
7 I found one that I liked with the safety netting
8 all around it. I went to the park because something told me
9 inside, told me I probably should ask the park, because I do
10 live in a mobile home park.
11 There's swing sets and they have pools, so 1
12 thought, well, you know, a trampoline is probably not that
13 big of a deal. The park manager said I could have a
14 trampoline, but it can't have the safety net, and I wasn't
15 getting one without them.
16 So I told the children we weren't able to get it;
17 however, when we have another house where I don't have to
18 ask anyone what I can have on the land, I can get a
19 trampoline on that land.
20 Q Did you promise ponies for each of them?
21 A No ponies, no. I never had a pony. If
22 anyone is having a pony, it will be me. I will get a horse.
23 Q Your testimony is you haven't promised them
24 those things in the past and you aren't doing that now?
25 A No.
49
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1 Q What is your request to the Court today
2 regarding the custody of your children?
3 A My request is to be able to have them with me
4 during the school year so I can provide the motherly aspect
5 that they need for school and the nourishment, you know, the
6 doctor's appointments and the dentist appointments, the PTO
7 meetings, everything that I did here.
8 I feel that we will still be able to do all those
9 things that typically you do here in the summer with them
10 out there as well, because it's warmer out there longer.
11 Providing that they come to stay in Pennsylvania
12 in the summer, their father will have ample time with them
13 to do all the things that he is good at, the baseball, the
14 soccer, the outside things that need to be done when there
15 is warm weather. In the winter, you know, there's not too
16 much other than school that they are involved in at that
17 time.
18 Q Do you think that a relocation of the
19 children to Texas would substantially improve their quality
20 of life?
21 A I do. I have never had the experience to
22 move and be involved in different things. They will be able
23 to go to school with different ethnic backgrounds, different
24 cultures. They will be able to learn the life of all the
25 different military, their comings and goings.
50
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1 It's just something that, like I said, that they
2 don't have the exposure to up here. It's a different way of
3 life there. It's slower paced. There's not the hustle and
4 bustle, and they'll be able to enjoy life like they should
5 as a child and not take them here, take them here, all the
6 time running around. Like I said the biggest thing probably
7 will be the culture aspect of it.
8 Q What about the financial aspect of it?
9 A That's really not an issue. We are able to
10 care for them without any help from anybody else. Like I
11 said, I'll be able to stay at home, so if I'm able to stay
12 at home and not work, I feel confident that the kids will be
13 fine with one income.
14 Q Do you have a concern if they're here in
15 Pennsylvania primarily about the financial --
16 A I do have a concern only because currently I
17 buy things that they do all the time. Examples, the lunch
18 box today. I did not ask for half of that. I buy them
19 clothes and shoes and things that they need.
20 I don't feel that me as a parent has the need to
21 ask the other parent for half. If I see that they need
22 socks or whatever, I just go out and buy them. I've had
23 occasions when their father has purchased things, and he
24 needed me to pay half.
25 I have no problem doing that. I've given him
51
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1 half, but that's something that I do not ask him to do. I
2 just signed Dakota up for three weeks at the Y. It's like
3 $350.00, and that all came out of my pocket.
4 Q What do you understand about Jason's
5 finances?
6 A When we first met, they weren't good; but at
7 that time, you know, when you're happy and in love and get
8 married, that's really not something you think of. So we
9 struggled a little.
10 Of course we combined incomes, so his debt and my
11 debt was now our debt. We worked through it. We were both
12 very hard workers. We have the same income. We were able
13 to pay bills, but it was a struggle.
14 We bought a house that we could afford, but it
15 needed work done to it. So we were always looking at ways
16 to improve the house, and that put some stress --
17 Q I was more interested in today.
18 A Oh, today. From what I understand he's still
19 -- I don't talk financially about it too much, but from what
20 I understand he still has a credit card. You know, we all
21 have credit cards, but I know in the past he said that that
22 has been high. I just recently -- well, when I left he went
23 out and bought a motorcycle, so there's another expense.
24 MR. MATEYA: Your Honor, if I may, we would
25 be happy to put on evidence about that, and pardon the
52
•
1 interruption. I don't mean to be rude, but we would be
2 happy to put on evidence about the finances if that would be
3 helpful.
4 THE COURT: Well, when you testify, I guess
5 you can.
6 BY MR. SCHERER:
7 Q Are you in any way trying to frustrate
8 Jason's custody of the boys?
9 A Absolutely not. I have said time and time
10 again that he is a good father. I'm not here to say that he
11 isn't. He is. However, there are times when children, I
12 want to say, need their mother. The mother does more things
13 at a younger age and during school that they need.
14 Again I think it's very -- it will be very
15 overwhelming for him, what exactly it was I did all the time
16 as far as again scheduling the appointments, paying for
17 this, getting them signed up for this. I think a lot of
18 that will be very overwhelming.
19 Q You heard Mary Jo Devlin express concerns
20 about your move to Florida or, excuse me, Texas. Can you
21 address those concerns?
22 A I respect her concerns because she is a
23 medical professional; however, every child is different. I
24 don't -- as she stated, the children are fine now. Can
25 anyone say how they're going to feel when they get there?
53
•
1 No. That's not something that you can sit here and
2 pinpoint.
3 I think she said a three-month period that they
4 will be drastically in mourning. I have the children now,
5 and if there is even just a weekend that I have them or a
6 week, they do not ask anything about their father or want to
7 call him.
8 That doesn't mean that that's a bad thing, though.
9 They are so consumed with what they're doing and what we're
10 doing together that, you know, that's -- I don't know -- I'm
11 not really sure where she's going with all that just because
12 of other cases she has seen.
13 You know, you're not going to know until you get
14 there, and as adults I wasn't saying that the children are
15 not going to have issues. If they do as adults, we need to
16 step up to the plate and encourage them that it is okay.
17 They have a mother and a father and now two more people in
18 their life that love them.
19 It's not a bad thing to be away from a parent for
20 that long. You know, again look at the fathers that are
21 deployed. Their children are away from their fathers for a
22 year.
23 You have -- you need to have some sort of
24 consistency, and with me being with them as a stay-at-home
25 mother, they are going to have consistency. Are they going
54
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1 to miss their dad? Sure. If they were to stay, they call
2 me on the weekends that he has them.
3 They make sure and use his phone and call me every
4 weekend, so I know they miss me. They call me and tell me
5 that. That doesn't mean that they love their dad any less.
6 It just means that at this stage of their life they want to
7 be with their mother primarily.
8 Q What about removing your parents from the
9 equation?
10 A I wouldn't necessarily say removing.
11 Obviously I still want my parents in my boys' life. That's
12 what grandparents do. I've explained to the boys before
13 that just because you move does not mean that you take your
14 family away. Out of sight, out of mind.
15 There are weekends. There are extended holidays.
16 There are vacations where you pack up and you go visit your
17 relatives. That's what you're supposed to do. You know,
18 living a mile or two miles down the road from every single
19 relative that you have, that's a bit much.
20 You can still have a great family life visiting
21 relatives. Jason's whole family lives in Ohio. We visited
22 them on occasion. There was no problem loading us up and
23 the boys to go up there to visit their Grandma Joyce.
24 They love that they were going on a trip to see
25 their cousins, you know, and their grandma and grandpa, so
55
•
1 that's not anything I'm going to ever take away from them.
2 Q Are both of your parents retired?
3 A No.
4 Q Your mother is?
5 A No, she's not retired. She just stopped
6 working to watch the boys. My father works.
7 MR. SCHERER: Okay. That's all the
8 questions.
9 THE COURT: Good point at which to take a
10 recess.
11 (Whereupon, a recess was taken.)
12 CROSS-EXAMINATION
13 BY MR. MATEYA:
14 Q I have a few questions that I want to ask
15 you. First, th e home at Buttonwood Drive, did I understand
16 you own that?
17 A I bought it, correct.
18 Q And is that in your own name or is that with
19 Shannon?
20 A It's mine.
21 Q And you mentioned that you met Shannon
22 sometime a month or two after the separation?
23 A Correct.
24 MR. MATEYA: Your Honor, I would like to
25 present -- and am I correct are we at Plaintiff's 2 -- what
56
•
1 I'm marking as Plaintiff's 2. This is an e-mail that I will
2 lay the foundation here just as soon as I get this marked.
3 (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 2 was
4 marked for identification by Mr. Mateya.)
5 BY MR. MATEYA:
6 Q Ms. Gordon, is that your e-mail address at
7 the top, Jennifer dot Gordon at khpc dot com?
8 A Correct.
9 Q And that's in the from line, and then the to
10 line it says Patricia Auckerman. To the best of your
11 knowledge is that her e-mail address which is nanapa899 at
12 Yahoo dot com?
13 A Correct.
14 Q Did you send this e-mail, and I'll give you a
15 moment to look at it.
16 A Yes, I sent it.
17 Q You sent it?
18 A I sent it.
19 Q All right. Could you tell me the date on the
20 first page there?
21 A April 6th.
22 Q Okay. If you would with me go to the second
23 page, and I'm looking at -- on that page there are two long
24 paragraphs, and I'm about halfway through the second
25 paragraph. There's an ellipses, and then it says I have
57
• •
1 been on the way out. Do you see that?
2 A Correct.
3 Q I'm sorry. I grabbed the wrong spot. Below
4 there it says I am not happy, and I know -- do you see that?
5 A Correct.
6 Q Could you read that for the Court, down to
7 where the final sentence is there.
8 A I am not happy, and I know there is something
9 out there waiti ng for me and the kids and Jason to make us
10 happy. There i s a friend that I met a few months ago, but
11 it has nothing to do with this situation, which is why I am
12 keeping him out of the picture for now and the reason I said
13 no when you ask ed me if there was somebody else.
14 Q Okay. Thank you.
15 A You're welcome.
16 MR. MATEYA: I'd like to enter this into
17 evidence, Your Honor.
18 THE COURT: Unless there's an objection.
19 MR. SCHERER: No objection.
20 THE COURT: It's admitted.
21 (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 2 was
22 admit ted into evidence.)
23 BY MR. MATEYA:
24 Q Was that someone else that you mentioned in
25 here, was that Shannon?
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0 0
1 A Correct, but not the someone else, the
2 friend.
3 Q I'm sorry. I didn't mean to try to put words
4 in your mouth. My apologies. The friend that you mentioned
5 here was someone else?
6 A Correct.
7 Q And here it says you met him several months
8 ago?
9 A I met him several months ago, correct.
10 Q Okay. That's fine. I'm going to stay on
11 that same second page. I'm halfway through that first
12 paragraph now, and there is a sentence which begins I want
13 the experience of living. Could you read just that one
14 sentence for me.
15 A I want the experience of living more than a
16 drive away and missing the two of you and the two of you
17 missing the kids.
18 Q And do you have any reason to suggest that
19 this was not your e-mail? I mean this is indeed something
20 you wrote?
21 A Yes, I wrote it.
22 Q Okay. All right. Thank you. You mentioned
23 that you work for Capital Blue Cross?
24 A Correct.
25 Q Could you tell the Court what you make, I
59
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10
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14
15
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mean approximately, per year?
A I believe it's 48 to 50 thousand, right in
there.
Q And what is your position with them?
A Provider Relations Rep.
Q Is this something that you could do in Texas
should you need to?
A If I wanted to.
Q I'm not suggesting. I'm just asking if it's
possible.
A Sure. It's an insurance company, so you can
find insurance everywhere.
Q Okay. During your testimony you said that
while you and Jason were still together, that -- you
mentioned -- we called it the bar scene. I think your
attorney called it the bar scene. And you said you did this
about once a month, but you didn't leave until the boys were
in bed?
A Correct.
Q And you said Jason and I both did this.
A Correct.
Q Are you suggesting that you both left when
the boys were in bed?
A No, different times. I would stay at home
with the children on his nights to go out. I would -- then
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the roles would be reversed when it was my turn to go out.
Q So if you went out, Jason was home?
A Oh, yeah.
Q All right. Okay. You heard Ms. Devlin
suggest -- you heard her give her opinion about the concerns
that she has with an extended period away from mother or
father or grandparents. Have the children ever been away
from either one of you for three months at a time?
A For three months, no.
Q Okay. Concerning the custody arrangement,
you had a certain custody arrangement while you were still
physically living in the house, in the marital home, and
then when you moved out, it was substantially the same. Is
that correct?
A It was exactly the same.
Q And did that work well enough moving from
here to there?
A Correct.
Q How far away did you move?
A I'd say probably eight to ten miles.
Q Was it difficult to make the exchanges?
A For whom?
Q To make the custodial exchanges?
A No, not at all.
Q Okay.
61
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1 A And if we exchanged the children and the
2 grandparents were not involved, I drive to his house, he
3 drives to mine. That's not an issue.
4 Q And if the grandparents were involved, would
5 the grandparents' place be like the location where --
6 A Correct. That's where we would pick up the
7 children.
8 Q How long have you done that?
9 A Since April.
10 Q Of?
11 A Of 2005.
12 Q All right. And that arrangement of shared
13 custody where you were living eight miles apart, what you
14 had said here earlier was shared custody has not affected
15 Dakota's grad es at all?
16 A Not at all.
17 Q One of the things that you said was that one
18 of your favor ite things to do is watching him learn. We're
19 taking about Dakota now.
20 A Um-hum.
21 Q Watching him learn. If you needed to stay in
22 Pennsylvania in order to watch him learn, would you do that?
23 A I would love to, but as far as being able to
24 afford it, it wouldn't happen up here. I need to work here.
25 Q That's not my question. You said one of my
62
• •
1 favorite things to do is watching him learn, watching Dakota
2 learn. I'm a sking you, are you willing to stay in
3 Pennsylvania and do whatever you need to do in order to
4 continue to b e part of his life if your husband is awarded
5 custody?
6 A I'm still moving to Texas either way. That
7 is something that I've talked about with the kids. They
8 know that. A s far as still being able to be involved with
9 his learning and knowing what he's doing in school, that's
10 why they make telephones and e-mails and video cameras.
11 Q But you're moving to Texas?
12 A Correct.
13 Q So then maybe this isn't one of your favorite
14 things to do. I'll withdraw that, Your Honor. I'm sorry.
15 I don't mean to be argumentative. You mentioned that you
16 read to Dakot a. Where do you read to him?
17 A Where?
18 Q Right. I'm sorry. I have this wrong. Am I
19 right, Dakota has to read to you?
20 A We do both.
21 Q Sure. But there's a program where Dakota
22 needs to read to you each day.
23 A Correct.
24 Q Where does he do that?
25 A A lot of the times we do that on the way to
63
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1 my mom's. He' ll read. That way -- and then he shows, you
2 know, his brot her the pictures. There are times that we
3 will be in the living room, well, before bed, but most of
4 the time that' s something that we do in the car ride on the
5 way to my mom' s.
6 Q So if he's reading to you when you're in the
7 car, you can't really read along with him to check his
8 reading?
9 A I can tell by the way he's reading that he's
10 reading the co rrect words, and when he has trouble with a
11 word, I have h im spell it to me so I can ask him what the
12 word is.
13 Q Fair enough. Concerning Noah, you said --
14 you talked abo ut a typical week, and you mentioned the
15 nursery school at Otterbein United Methodist.
16 A Um-hum.
17 Q How long has he been going there?
18 A This was his second year.
19 Q Do you know the teachers there?
20 A Sure.
21 Q And they know Noah?
22 A Both children went there.
23 Q He has friends there at the nursery school, I
24 mean, his age?
25 A Yes.
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1 Q Okay. All right. He gets on the bus at your
2 parents. Is that correct?
3 A Dakota does, yes, 8:30.
4 Q And how long has that been going on, that he
5 gets on the b us from your parents' home?
6 A Since school started.
7 Q Oh, because he's just in first grade.
8 A Correct.
9 Q So this entire school year?
10 A And kindergarten, so this is his second year.
11 Q So he's been riding the bus from your
12 grandparents' house --
13 A From his grandparents' house, yes, my
14 parents.
15 Q I'm sorry.
16 A That's okay.
17 Q -- for two years?
18 A Um-hum.
19 Q Okay. You mentioned a birthday party at
20 Chuck E. Chee se. Was Shannon there?
21 A Correct.
22 Q And Jason was there?
23 A Um-hum, and my parents and my brother, my
24 sister and my cousins.
25 Q Was there some issue with the car there
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1 afterwards that Jason had to help Shannon?
2 A Had to jump start a car, yeah.
3 Q All right. That's fine. You mentioned, and
4 I wrote it as a quote. It's great to have a parent as a day
5 care. Is that correct?
6 A Correct.
7 Q And you also mentioned -- again, I have it as
8 a quote. My children do not know what it's like to go to
9 their grandparents.
10 A Correct.
11 Q You and Jason seem to be very good at working
12 together for managing -- I'll swap one weekend, you swap
13 another one. You did mention that?
14 A Um-hum.
15 Q Okay. Has that been the case the entire time
16 since the two of you have been separated?
17 A From what I can recall. We've often -- we
18 share e-mails and phone conversations. There's, you know,
19 other than the counseling sessions with Mary Jo, that was
20 the only time we typically would argue or fight.
21 But that's something that I guess comes out in
22 counseling sessions, and again that's something she brings
23 out because she's the professional, and, of course, she's on
24 Jason's side, so --
25 Q I'm sorry? She's on Jason's side?
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A Oh, yeah.
Q Who called Mary Jo Devlin initially?
A I did.
Q Why do you think she's on Jason's side?
A I asked her.
Q That's a fair answer. You heard the opinion
that she gave, and she suggested that this was going to be
difficult for the children.
A Um-hum.
Q What's -- and can you respond to that?
A I agree. It could be difficult. There
again, as I st ated before, she has stated that she has seen
hundreds of ca ses. Every child is different. Every parent
is different on how they handle the situation.
Q But did you hear her say that children of
this age don't have any place to put this mentally? They
don't have --
A I heard her say it, correct.
Q Do you disagree with her?
A A small part of me probably does.
Q And how about the rest of you?
A Again, every child is different.
Q When asked do you disagree with her that
children this age are not able to have anyplace to put this,
you said a sma ll part of you disagrees. The rest of you
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1 agrees with her?
2 A I guess since she's a medical, I almost have
3 to.
4 Q Thank you. You stated earlier when asked
5 about relocati on with your children, you said quote I always
6 wanted to move where it was warm. I'm sorry. Where it's
7 warm. Did you used to live in Cleveland?
8 A Um-hum.
9 Q Were you married at the time?
10 A No.
11 Q Were you and Jason together at the time?
12 A Correct.
13 Q And where did you move to from Cleveland?
14 A Back here.
15 Q Here being South Middleton Township?
16 A Correct, Pennsylvania.
17 Q We were joking about having a pony and things
18 like that, and you stated, quote, If anyone is having a
19 pony, it would be me. I would get a horse. Is that your
20 testimony?
21 A Yes, I said that jokingly.
22 Q That's fine. Your counsel asked you, would a
23 move to Texas improve the quality of life for the children.
24 You said yes, and then your answer was, quote, I've never
25 had the experi ence of different things. Is that your
68
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1 testimony?
2 A I was referring to the -- I never had the
3 experience. I don't want my children to not have the
4 experience.
5 Q Thank you very much. Okay. You said there
6 were three fami lies in Texas --
7 A Correct.
8 Q -- that you met. How many times have you
9 been there?
10 A Twice.
11 Q And is it your testimony that now that you've
12 met these three families two times, you want to move your
13 entire life to Texas, take your children away from their
14 grandparents, their father, their school, their friends, all
15 of their surroundings to go plug them into Texas with these
16 three families. Is that what you wish to do?
17 A I'm not removing them from anybody.
18 Q No, just --
19 A But yes.
20 Q I'm sorry. Go ahead.
21 MR. SCHERER: Objection, Your Honor.
22 THE COURT: Let her answer.
23 MR. MATEYA: Thank you. Please answer. My
24 apologies.
25 THE WITNESS: I would never remove them from
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1 their relatives especially their father, their grandparents,
2 their aunts, their cousins. As far as relocating their
3 school, he's had kindergarten and first grade.
4 You don't really make that much of a bond in those
5 two grades that he can't make in another school. I will
6 never remove them from their family though, no.
7 BY MR. MATEYA:
g Q Have you introduced these three families to
9 the Aukermans, to your parents?
10 A The three families to my parents?
11 Q Yes.
12 A No, because my parents don't even want to get
13 to know Shannon. Why would I have them meet Shannon's
14 friends?
15 Q Have you introduced them to Jason who does
16 know Shannon?
17 A No, because Jason has never been to Texas.
18 Q Have you told him who they are, these three
19 families that you plan to relocate to.
20 A I have referred to them as Shannon's friends
21 in Iraq or that he went to Iraq with, yes.
22 Q Okay. So Jason knows these families?
23 A No.
24 Q But you want to take his children --
25 A As far as knowing them, no, he doesn't know
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1 them. But then again I don't know Monica and Dean either,
2 so -- I've never been introduced to her. I've seen her at
3 ballgames. Every time I went up to say hi, she was gone.
4 Q She lives right here in Central PA?
5 A From what I'm told.
6 Q Central Pennsylvania, not in Texas.
7 A Correct. But that's what I'm getting at.
8 She lives right here, and I've never been introduced to her.
9 Q The schools that you mentioned in Texas, do
10 you know what the school district is?
11 A The school district itself?
12 Q Yes.
13 A It's Harker -- it's on the exhibit.
14 MR. MATEYA: Your Honor, I would like to
15 present what I'm going to mark as Plaintiff's 3. This is
16 rather general information and comprehensive information
17 concerning the Killeen School District.
18 (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 3 was
19 marked for identification by Mr. Mateya.)
20 BY MR. MATEYA:
21 Q I'd like you to turn to the next to the last
22 page, and unfortunately things got clipped a little bit in
23 the printing. At the very bottom of the next to the last
24 page it says students and then it says student ethnicity.
25 Do you see that?
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1 A Yes.
2 Q And that little box that is on that page is
3 also on the top of the very next page, the bottom of it is.
4 The student ethnicity, and it gives this district and it
5 gives state average.
6 In this district, black 40 percent, state average
7 is 14 percent. White, 35 percent, state average is 38
8 percent. Do you see that?
9 A Correct.
10 Q And then on the next page, just to make it a
11 little easier there's a pie chart, but the numbers are
12 really what I'm interested in on that second page or that
13 next to last page.
14 Were you aware that in the school district you
15 propose to take your children to, they would be the minority
16 there?
17 A Well, first of all, this is Killeen. This
18 isn't Harker Heights, so I'm not --
19 Q Actually Harker Heights is one of the 63
20 campuses of the Killeen School District and Mountain View,
21 where it's in Harker Heights, and by the way there's only
22 one elementary school in Harker Heights.
23 A No, there's two.
24 Q Now, let's take a look at the town. It's in
25 a different town. Harker Heights is a part of the Killeen
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1 School District which is attached to Fort Hood, and I'm not
2 trying to creat e facts, Your Honor, for the record. All of
3 this is in the materials which I just handed out. I don't
4 want to belabor it and take an hour to read all through.
5 MR. SCHERER: Objection, Your Honor, if this
6 could be put in the form of a question, I think that would
7 be more appropr iate.
8 THE COURT: I'm sure he will.
9 MR. MATEYA: We were getting there, Your
10 Honor.
11 THE COURT: Apparently not fast enough for
12 Mr. Scherer.
13 BY MR. MATEYA:
14 Q Again, were you aware that the school
15 district that you were taking your children to, that your
16 children would. be a minority in that school district?
17 A I know that -- well, first of all, I'm not
18 prejudiced, so I don't care --
19 Q Just yes or no. Did you know that?
20 A Yes.
21 Q You knew that. You knew of these statistics?
22 A I did not see these statistics. I saw the
23 ones that I accessed on Nolanville and Mountain View.
24 Q And they had a breakdown?
25 A I don't recall what -- I was more interested
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1 in the education purposes, not the ethnic background.
2 Q And I'm not suggesting any prejudice. I'm
3 just wondering if you had done any homework.
4 A As far as their school, but no not as far as
5 -- it makes no difference to me if my children are sitting
6 next to a black person or a Mexican person. As long as the
7 education is substantial to what they need.
8 Q When you move to Texas and forgive me, I seem
9 to have heard one thing here in court and something else in
10 your pre-hearing memorandum. I have the pre-hearing
11 memorandum that states in Item 2, Her plan is to be employed
12 in the school the children attend so that she will have a
13 schedule that mirrors that of her children.
14 And I'm just showing you this. This is your
15 memorandum. A nd, Your Honor, this is already a part of the
16 record. It's one of the pleadings. Now, is that your
17 testimony that you plan to have --
18 A As I stated, I plan to be a stay-at-home mom
19 until I decide maybe to find a job working at a school. If
20 I do not find a job working at a school, then a stay-at-home
21- mom is what I will do.
22 Q So again are you planning -- so you are not
23 planning then, as you said in your pre-hearing memorandum,
24 to find a posi tion at the s chool or at the school district?
25 A I said yes.
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Q You are planning to work there when you move
to Texas?
A If there is a job opening at that time,
certainly. If not, I will be a stay-at-home mom. Either
way it's school hours. I will be going -- bringing them to
school, bringing them back from school.
MR. MATEYA': Your Honor, I'm marking -- what
I'm marking is Plaintiff's 4.
(Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 4 was
marked for identification by Mr. Mateya.)
BY MR. MATEYA:
Q It's just a one sentence line. Could you
read that for the Court, please.
A No one by the name of Jennifer Gordon or
Jennifer Auckerman has applied to work with Killeen
Independent School District.
Q So at this point would you deny this, that
you have not applied for work?
A I haven't submitted the application. I have
it, and I have an e-mail from somebody different, not
through Killeen, that I have an application to work for a
school.
Q So you have it --
A Correct.
Q -- in your possession, an application?
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A Correct. All the job openings currently are
all teacher positions. I'm not looking for a teacher
position. I'm not certified to teach.
Q So you're planning to move in August, but you
have not yet applied for a job?
A Correct. I don't need to work.
Q That's fine. I'm going to go back to those
darn ponies again. You've said, quote, There weren't
promises of things, but they would think that if they move
they would get them. Is that correct?
A No.
Q I believe -- I could have the court reporter
read it back to you.
A Not -- if they move?
Q There weren't promises of things, but they
would think that if they move they would get them. That's
not what you said?
A I don't think that's exactly -- no, I think
you're interpreting that a little. I said that they weren't
allowed to have a trampoline at the current home; however,
there was no one telling me in Texas that I can't have a
trampoline because we will own our own land.
Q That's fine. I noticed -- I heard you say
that you signed Dakota up at the Y?
A Correct.
76
1 Q Has he been signed up at the Y before?
2 A Yes, last year.
3 Q So this is a second year in a row for him?
4 A Correct.
5 Q What is it that he does at the Y?
6 A It's a day camp. They go on various -- every
7 Wednesday they go on a field trip, whether it be to Midway
8 Bowling or wherever, swimming. There's various places,
9 Whitaker Center, Zoo America.
10 Throughout the week though they do, you know,
11 normal day care or day camp activities, painting, you know,
12 swimming, kick ball, normal camp things.
13 Q And this being his second year, will he know
14 a lot of the children there?
15 A I have no idea. I guess if they signed back
16 up, sure.
17 MR. MATEYA: Your Honor, if I could have one
18 moment with my client. Your Honor, we have nothing further.
19 THE COURT: Anything else, Mr. Scherer?
20 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
21 BY MR. SCHERER:
22 Q If you look at Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 2, and
23 that's the list of the houses that you have been looking at
24 to purchase, if you look at the first house, it says
25 elementary school.
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1 A Yes.
2 Q And what school does it say?
3 A Nolanville.
4 Q Now, the rest of them, what elementary
5 school?
6 A Mountain View.
7 Q So if you flip back to the very last page in
8 that packet, does it discuss the Nolanville Elementary
9 School?
10 A Yes, it does.
11 Q And as you go down underneath that, what
12 district is t hat in?
13 A Bell County or -- what district?
14 Q It's the Killeen Independent School District,
15 is that right ?
16 A Correct.
17 Q And the point of the issue over your
18 employment is that you don't need to work down there. Is
19 that right?
20 A That is correct.
21 Q So if you thought it was going to be in the
22 best interest of the kids to work, would that be your
23 intention to work?
24 A Which is why I do have an application at home
25 filled out. Initially I was going to get a job working at
78
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1 the school, but then after giving some thought, I don't need
2 to work, so I can b e home with the children.
3 MR. SCHERER: Thank you. I don't have any
4 other questions.
5 MR. MATEYA: Nothing, Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: I need to ask you about one
7 thing. This circle of friends in the area, you said they
8 were friends of Sha nnon's from his time in the military.
9 THE WITNESS: Correct.
10 THE COURT: Are -- Shannon is not active
11 military now, am I right?
12 THE WITNESS: He's in the Army reserves,
13 staff sergeant.
14 THE COURT: He's a staff sergeant in the
15 reserves?
16 THE WITNESS: Right.
17 THE COURT: What about these other friends,
18 are they active in the military?
19 THE WITNESS: One is active. Two are
20 retired.
21 THE COURT: Two are retired. So you
22 understand the pote ntial that this active one, the one
23 active person could conceivably be rotated out of the Fort
24 Hood area?
25 THE WITNESS: Correct.
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1 THE COURT: All right. Thank you. Anything
2 else? Thank you ve ry much.
3 MR. SCHERER: Call Shannon Stark to the
4 stand.
5 Whereupon,
6 SHANNON STARK
7 having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
8 DIRECT EXAMINATION
9 BY MR. SCHERER:
10 Q Can you tell us your name, please.
11 A My n ame is Shannon Stark.
12 Q And you live with Jennifer at Buttonwood in
13 Dillsburg?
14 A Yes, sir, I do.
15 Q And you've been there since September of
16 2005?
17 A Yes, sir.
18 Q Can you tell the Court how you're employed?
19 A I own my own business. I own two semi
20 trucks.
21 Q And about how long have you been driving semi
22 trucks?
23 A I've been driving eight years.
24 Q Obvi ously you were in the military at one
25 point we heard?
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1 A I still am. I was active duty for five years
2 and the last seven I've been in the reserves.
3 Q And when did your active duty service end?
4 A 193 to 1995, May of '95 I left Fort Bragg,
5 North Carolina.
6 Q And you made a circle of friends in the
7 military?
8 A In Iraq under different circumstances.
9 Q All right. Tell me a little bit about --
10 backing up to your employment schedule. What's the nature
11 of that?
12 A Well, as an owner/operator I can pretty much
13 pick and choose when I work. So, as she said, typically --
14 right now to make money in order to buy a home and I've
15 planned on taking responsibility for two children, I run
16 really hard. I leave Sunday and come home Friday. That's
17 where the money is at.
18 When we don't have heavy responsibilities or when
19 we first were dating, it was pretty lackadaisical. I could
20 take two days off a week or, you know, just drive at my
21 leisure. The miles -- my time determines my mileage and, of
22 course, that depends on how much money I make.
23 Q So then you're around the boys primarily at
24 this time on the alternating weekends. Is that fair to say?
25 A Yes, whenever Jen has them or whenever we're
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1 helping Jason out, yes, then I'm with them.
2 Q Tell me a little bit about your feelings
3 about being around the boys.
4 A Well, I'm going to demonstrate some honesty.
5 At first it was a little -- when I met Jen, it was a
6 challenge, because I'm not a father and I wasn't going to be
7 in my personal opinion.
8 That's because I haven't been around children
9 much. Being a soldier and a truck driver are probably the
10 two worst occupations a guy could have for trying to have
11 family values.
12 So when I met Jen and was introduced to the boys,
13 I was nervous and I was even scared. And then like most
14 people I guess you're not born a father or mother. Those
15 instincts come out, and my so-called fatherly instincts
16 would start coming out.
17 I started having feelings towards them, being
18 sensitive to their needs, and knowing how to play and not
19 throw them, because he's only four. He's not sixteen. I
20 had to learn how to do that.
21 I'm in a learning process about being a dad with
22 them, so it's exciting now. It was nervous at first because
23 you're scared of them. Like when somebody first holds a
24 baby, I don't want to hold a baby. I might drop it.
25 But now I know my limitations, and I'm getting -- the
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1 fatherly things are coming out.
2 Q What kind of activities do you do with the
3 boys?
4 A Pretty much right now I share truck driving
5 with them. That's my passion. When we drive truck, I often
6 ask to take them with so as it doesn't interfere with their
7 school or their father's schedule because if it's with Jen,
8 I don't have to ask.
9 We take them to race car -- I'm a heavy race fan.
10 I'm a very competitive person, so racing -- we take them to
11 sprint cars, NASCAR races, and anything that has to do with
12 the military, I try to instill those things in them.
13 Q You went to Gettysburg last weekend. Is that
14 right?
15 A Correct.
16 Q And what did you do there?
17 A We drove around the battlefield. I took my
18 uncle. I have a sickly uncle, and he's always been good
19 with young kids, so I kind of bonded the kids with him to
20 help him feel good. He's been around my nieces and nephews,
21 so now I want to introduce him to Dakota and Noah.
22 And also every time they see me stand up for the
23 National Anthem or anything that has to do with the
24 military, they always ask questions why, so I wanted to take
25 them back to the civil war, and also for myself to learn.
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1 If I'm going to teach them something, I've got to know about
2 it, so it's kind of a together thing, sharing military
3 history.
4 Q Are they warm towards you? Do they loook to
5 hold your hand?
6 A Actually, yes. They're responsible for
7 breaking me. When I met Jen, I told you I was scared of the
8 boys. I was trying to be hard and, you know, like push back
9 in case this don't work out. I don't want to, you know,
10 hurt you.
11 One day I had to discipline Dakota, and as I was
12 leaving he grabbed my leg and he told me he loved me. I
13 asked him why, and he said because you took the time to
14 discipline me because you care, and that pretty much was my
15 breaking point.
16 Q Do you work on their school work with them at
17 all?
18 A No. I mean, I have occasionally, yes. Do I
19 all the time, no, I'm not home to.
20 Q All right. And is it your desire to relocate
21 to Harker Heights, Texas, with Jen?
22 A Yes.
23 Q And what is your desire with respect to the
24 children coming along with you?
25 A To give them the best life I can provide for
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1 them. Obviously I haven't been financially secure my whole
2 life. I've worked my way up to where I'm at, and now that I
3 have this financial freedom, I feel like I can share it with
4 a family.
5 When I met Jen and her boys, and they might be my
6 responsibility, I have no problem spending -- using my
7 financial success to allow them to see life from any angle
8 they want as long as it's morally right.
9 Q Are you going to be able to support the
10 family on your income alone?
11 A Absolutely.
12 Q What is your income roughly?
13 A Right now I make 170 to 180 thousand dollars
14 a year. And now with the second truck coming on board, you
15 can double that, so I'll be looking at 300 thousand dollars
16 if the business progresses the way it is now.
17 Q Is that your net income or is that what --
18 A That's business income. My net would be half
19 that. I split my financial responsibility half and half
20 with my business, so this year I made -- I'm up to 130
21 thousand this year alone. So half of that is mine, half of
22 it stays to the business, so I'm at 70 thousand bring home
23 this year.
24 Q And can you describe your desire to move to
25 Texas. What's your motivation?
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1 A My motivation was because I've been married
2 and divorced also when I was in the Middle East the first
3 time. This recent time in Iraq I lost a fiancee, and I
4 pretty much was scared of women when I came home.
5 I've been in Pennsylvania my whole life as far as
6 growing up. Through truck driving, through the military
7 I've seen all 48 states. I knew there was something better
8 out there.
9 Upon coming home from Iraq, I went to visit my
10 friends down there because I received a bronze star for
11 actions when I served over there. So while I was in Texas
12 -- I was there for quite a bit of time under those
13 circumstances, and I just -- again I fell in love with the
14 way the people live, the environment.
15 I've often drove through there as a truck driver,
16 and I've seen the country, and I liked it. I like the way
17 they're proud of their state. There's no other state about
18 it. You know when a Texan is around, and they're not
19 ashamed.
20 You don't have Pennsylvania toast in Minnesota,
21 but you have Texas toast no matter where you go. It's just
22 something there, and I want to be a part of that. I want to
23 have that deep ground. They're proud of everybody in that
24 state.
25 MR. SCHERER: Thank you. I don't have any
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1 other questions.
2 CROSS-EXAMINATION
3 BY MR. MATEYA:
4 Q Mr. Stark, you have talked about your
5 relationship w ith the children.
6 A Yes, sir.
7 Q And that by all accounts it sounds like the
8 children think well of you and you think well of them?
9 A So I've been told.
10 Q My question is, do you want to be a part of
11 their lives?
12 A Absolutely. I wouldn't be here fighting for
13 them.
14 Q And if Jason is awarded primary custody, do
15 you want to be a part of their lives so much that you'll
16 just stay here in Pennsylvania so you can help raise them
17 and all the th ings you said, to work with them, teach them.
18 Would you do t hat?
19 A No.
20 MR. MATEYA: I don't have anything further,
21 Your Honor.
22 MR. SCHERER: Nor do I.
23 THE COURT: Thank you. You may step down.
24 MR. SCHERER: I'll move for the admission of
25 Defendant's 1 and 2 and rest.
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(Whereupon, Defendant Exhibit Nos. 1 and 2
were admitted into evidence.)
THE COURT: Okay. Very well. We'll take
some brief testimony before we break for lunch. Go ahead.
MR. MATEYA: Okay. Thank you, Your Honor.
Your Honor, just one point of order. There are several
people that we're going to call. I'm going to make it a
point not to give you duplicative testimony, and I don't
believe this will take a terribly long time.
THE COURT: Good.
MR. MATEYA: Okay. I call Julie Garman to
the stand.
Whereupon,
JULIE GARMAN
having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. MATEYA:
4
A
4
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County Prison.
4
Could you state your name, please.
Julie Garman.
And where do you live?
302 McLand Road, Mount Holly Springs.
And where are you employed?
I'm a corrections officer at the Cumberland
And are you married?
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1 A Yes.
2 Q And do you have children?
3 A Yes.
4 Q And could you tell me the children's names
5 and their ages, please.
6 A Brittany, she's nine, and Kayla is five.
7 Q And you know why we're here today. Jennifer
8 and Jason, how do you know them?
9 A They were our neighbors.
10 Q Were they right next door, behind you, down
11 the block?
12 A Right next door.
13 Q So how long have you known them?
14 A Since '99, so seven years.
15 Q While you were living next door there, did
16 you see Jason i nteract with his children?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And how about -- let me split that up a
19 litt le bit. Di d you see him interact with his children
20 prio r to the sp lit between he and his wife?
21 A Yes.
22 Q And how did he do with his kids?
23 A Very well. Every time we were outside --
24 well their kids used to come over and play with our kids a
25 lot. So every time we were outside, he was always out there
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with them, so we were all like together.
Q And was your neighborhood -- was your
backyard sort of the neighborhood hang out --
A Yes.
Q -- for the children?
A Yes.
Q Did this happen once a month? How often did
this happen?
A Every day.
Q All right. That's fine. Now, it's been a
while since Jason moved out from being you next door
neighbor. Is that right?
A That's correct.
Q If your children saw Jason today on the
street, would they know him?
A Yes.
Q How did he interact with your children?
A Very well. He played football with his boys.
My girls always played with him, so --
Q And you've already said that this was a daily
occurrence. Was Jennifer ever there with Jason and the
children?
A Once in a while. If she wasn't, she would be
working. I think she had another job at night.
Q All right. So you did see Jennifer
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1 occasionally with Jason and the children?
2 A Occasionally.
3 Q What percentage of the time, fifty percent?
4 A Less than that probably.
5 Q I mean one percent, fifty percent?
6 A Twenty-five.
7 Q Okay. That's fair. And you said you watched
8 Jason with hi s children. How -- did you ever see him
9 discipline hi s children?
10 A Yes. If the ball went onto the road, he
11 would say, ge t back. Don't go on the road. Like typical --
12 I never seen him hit their kids, but discipline them.
13 Q All right. And clearly being a next door
14 neighbor to J ennifer, the two of you knew each other. Have
15 you seen Jenn ifer since the two of you split up or the two
16 of them split up?
17 A Just, I think, one time.
18 Q Where was that?
19 A Actually a couple weeks ago at May Fair.
20 Q What is May Fair?
21 A It's something South Middleton School
22 District has for all the kids and families to come out.
23 They have a s ilent auction and games and all that kind of
24 stuff.
25 Q Did you just happen to be there?
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A I help there.
Q Okay.
A I volunteer.
Q Is this the first year you volunteered there?
A No.
Q How long have you volunteered there?
A I did it twice, two years.
Q So this was the third year or this was the
second?
A This was the third.
Q Third year, okay. And so you saw Jennifer
there every year with the children?
A No, this was the first year I saw her, but I
wasn't really looking, you know.
Q Okay. That's fair. You mentioned before
that -- when it was out in the backyard with the kids, you
said Jennifer was there some of the time. If she wasn't
there, has she ever talked to you about where she was
otherwise, or was it just because -- if you don't know,
that's okay.
A No.
Q That's fine. Okay. Just a few more
questions, Ms. Garman. In the neighborhood you said your
backyard was the place where people hung out. Do you have a
pool?
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A No.
Q Isn't there a pool somewhere in the
neighborhood?
A Across the street.
Q And whose home is that?
A Rick.
Q Could you --
A Rick Hahn, our neighbor across the street.
Q Do you know how his last name is spelled?
A H-a-h-n.
s
Q And so -- would you go over there together,
all of you?
A Normally it would be Josh and me and the
girls and Jason and the boys.
Q Okay. This happened with some frequency,
happened once a summer, what?
A We would go over once in awhile, not every
day, but --
Q Okay. And if Rick was there, was he just the
host, was it --
A Yeah.
Q Okay. Now, there were a lot of adults there.
Did you all -- was this a place where you all went out and
drank or was it just playing with the kids, playing
football? Tell me about this.
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1 A We would go over and swim in the pool. We
2 would all be in the pool with the kids. Mainly the guys
3 would get in the pool with the girls and boys.
4 Q Was there ever a time when you went there
5 that you were all doing shots? By that I mean alcohol
6 shots.
7 A We didn't.
8 Q Can you tell me what you do know about that?
9 A Well, Jen did.
10 Q Just Jen?
11 A Yes.
12 Q Was it Jen and Rick or was it just Jen?
13 A Jen and Rick.
14 Q Did it happen one time or did it happen a lot
15 of times?
16 A I think just once.
17 MR. MATEYA: I have no more questions, Your
18 Honor.
19 CROSS-EXAMINATION
20 BY MR. SCHERER:
21 Q You testified that you saw Jason out in the
22 neighborhood with the kids, sometimes in your backyard. You
23 say about hal f the time you would see Jen with Jason and the
24 kids. Is tha t what your testimony is?
25 A Mostly it was Jason and the boys.
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1 Q All right. When you would see Jason with the
2 boys, did you know whether or not Jen was home?
3 A Once in awhile I knew she was home. Like she
4 would ask me to go out with her the night before to drink,
5 to the bars, and I would say no because usually my husband
6 and I just do that together, and I would say to Jason, where
7 is she at. She was in the house with a hangover sleeping
8 until like eleven or twelve.
9 Q How many times did that occur?
10 A Monthly.
11 Q All right. This doing shots, did you observe
12 this yourself?
13 A Yes.
14 Q And what type of alcohol was involved?
15 A I have no clue because I don't drink alcohol.
16 Q And how many shots were involved? What did
17 you see?
18 A I just -- I know her and Rick went in the
19 house because he asked everybody to come in and do shots,
20 and we don't do them. So she said she would. So she went
21 in. I know they had one. I don't know if they had more.
22 Q Well, what was her appearance and demeanor
23 after she came back out of the house?
24 A Well, good, because I guess it takes awhile
25 to affect you. I don't know. I don't think you take a shot
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1 of liquor and it affects you right away.
2 Q Well, I'm asking you what you saw, ma'am. I
3 mean you said she did shots and now you just told us you
4 really didn't see her do shots. You saw her go inside. So
5 what did you s ee that day?
6 A She went inside to do a shot.
7 Q And she came out. How much time were you
8 with her after she came back out?
9 A Not that long. We went home.
10 Q You didn't call the police or anything
11 because you fe lt that she was a danger to herself or the
12 kids?
13 A No.
14 Q Now, with respect to May Fair, isn't it true
15 that Jen volun teered in the past several years at May Fair?
16 A I'm not sure. There's so many different
17 things, I don' t know who all is there. We're all at
18 different stat ions.
19 Q You saw Jen this year at May Fair?
20 A Yes.
21 Q And she was with the boys?
22 A Yes.
23 MR. SCHERER: Thank you. I don't have any
24 other question s.
25 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
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BY MR. MATEYA:
Q
at the shots.
kids?
A
One more.
is
Just one other question. We'll keep shooting
When Jen went in the house, who watched the
Jason.
MR. MATEYA
THE COURT:
Thank you.
Thank you.
You can step down.
MR. MATEYA: I call Josh Garman to the stand.
Whereupon,
JOSH GARMAN
having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. MATEYA:
Q Could you state your name, please.
A Joshua Garman.
Q And your address?
A 302 McLand Road, Mount Holly Springs.
Q And where are you employed?
A FCI Electronics.
Q You know Jason and Jennifer?
A Yes.
Q And this was your wife that we just heard
testify?
A Correct.
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Q Okay. So I don't have to go over all of
those things. Jason and his children and your children all
played well tog ether. You agree with what you heard?
A Yes.
Q Let me ask you this, just going in a
different direc tion. How was Jennifer with the children?
A Well, like my wife said, she wasn't around as
much as Jason. When she was around, she was cutting grass
or laundry, and she would typically yell at them.
Q She would yell at them?
A Almost like they were bothering her.
Q Now, you also heard that Jennifer was at May
Fair. Did you see her at May Fair?
A Yes, I did.
Q Was there anything special about what you saw
at May Fair?
A Just that I was shocked that she bought a
$20.00 Texas Lo nghorn football.
Q And Jennifer has been your neighbor, as we
heard testimony from your wife, for some years?
A Correct.
Q Did you see any changes in Jennifer after the
birth of her se cond child?
A Changes in her physically or mentally?
Q Either or both.
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1 A Physically, yes, she had lost a lot of
2 weight, and she started acting a little different, but --
3 Q Like what do you mean different?
4 A That's when she started going out all the
5 time and was never home. When she was pregnant, it would be
6 the four of them over, and then after Noah was born and she
7 lost all the weight and started taking -- not that she
8 didn't take care of herself. She would dress nicer. Then
9 she started not coming over as much. It would just be Jason
10 and the boys .
11 Q Do you believe Jason has consistently been
12 there for hi s children?
13 A Absolutely.
14 MR. MATEYA: Your Honor, I have nothing
15 further for this witness.
16 CROSS-EXAMINATION
17 BY MR. SCHER ER:
18 Q How frequently would you see Jen yelling at
19 her kids?
20 A About as frequently as I saw her with them.
21 Q All right.
22 A I'm not saying that she was always yelling at
23 them. I mea n she yelled at them more than I would yell at
24 my kids.
25 Q And when you say yelled at them, what exactly
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1 do you mean? What were the circumstances and what was she
2 saying?
3 A You know, that's been a year ago. I don't
4 really remember. I'm sure it was nothing important.
5 MR. SCHERER: Thank you. I don't have any
6 other questions.
7 MR. MATEYA: Nothing, Your Honor.
8 THE COURT: Thank you. And the other folks
9 are able to come back? We will be in recess until 1:15.
10 (Whereupon, the luncheon recess was taken.)
11 MR. MATEYA: Your Honor, I'd like to call
12 Marvin Lang to the stand.
13 Whereupon,
14 MARVIN LANG
15 having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
16 DIRECT EXAMINATION
17 BY MR. MATEYA:
18 Q Could you state your name for the record,
19 please.
20 A Marvin Lang.
21 Q And your address?
22 A 6093 Rockland Drive, Harrisburg,
23 Pennsylvania.
24 Q And where are you employed, Mr. Lang?
25 A I'm self-employed.
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1 Q And what is it that you do?
2 A Designer/consultant.
3 Q And you know Jennifer and Jason?
4 A Yes.
5 Q And how do you know the two of them?
6 A I used to work with Jennifer for many years
7 with Keystone Health Plan Central, and I met Jason through
8 Jennifer.
9 Q How long have you known them?
10 A Probably about seven years. Again I worked
11 with Jennifer and met Jason, I believe, I think it was a
12 picnic or a tr ip. I believe like a bus trip we met
13 initially, and then we began mountain biking together,
14 hanging out.
15 Q So you and Jason were hanging out just from
16 having met thr ough Jennifer?
17 A Sure. Absolutely.
18 Q And mountain biking, is that something you
19 guys do a lot of?
20 A Absolutely.
21 Q Tell me about that.
22 A We mountain bike probably once a week during
23 the spring and summer season, couple of hours each ride.
24 Q Ever overnight trips?
25 A Not yet.
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1 Q That sounds hopeful. Okay. Do you have
2 children?
3 A Yes, I do. I have a little boy who is three
4 years old and a little girl who is seven months old.
5 Q And have your children met Jason and
6 Jennifer?
7 A Yes. Jason, as I mentioned, we have been
8 friends for years. He's been over to the house, different
9 functions. He's seen the kids, interacted with the kids,
10 you know. In fact with our newest daughter, he came over,
11 met her, kind of, you know.
12 Q You mentioned different functions. Was there
13 a -- was it -- I don't know if I want to use the word
14 notorious. Was there a birthday party or half birthday
15 party?
16 A Yes, there was. Dakota had a birthday party,
17 a Spiderman birthday party, and I was there.
18 Q For the record who was Spiderman?
19 A That would be me.
20 Q Very good.
21 A Only do that part-time, Your Honor.
22 Q And so I take it that -- it sounds very
23 friendly. You all get along very well?
24 A Absolutely.
25 Q Have you ever met Jennifer's parents?
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1 A Yes.
2 Q And where was that?
3 A I believe the very first time was, I believe
4 a birthday party, I met her parents and other functions I
5 run into them as well.
6 Q Okay. And have they accepted you as one of
7 Jason's friends?
8 A Yes.
9 Q Is the fact that you're African American been
10 an issue with Jason's parents?
11 A Oh, no. No. No.
12 Q All right. So you knew them during the time
13 they were married, and you've now known them through the
14 separation. Is that correct?
15 A Yes.
16 Q And as far as you could see from just as your
17 point of view as a friend, how was their marriage?
18 A Great. In fact, most of my friends that I
19 hang out or used to hang out with in high school, they're
20 long gone, and, you know, I keep in touch with them
21 occasionally.
22 However, they don't share the same morals, ways to
23 raise a family as Jason and Jennifer used to have, similar
24 to myself and my wife. I mean there are certain kinds of
25 morals, things you do with your children, just the family
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perspective. Jason and Jennifer always shared that.
Q And how well do you know Jennifer?
A Again maybe seven years and just from working
at Keystone Health Plan together.
Q Have you on your own run into Jennifer since
the two of them have split up?
A Briefly in downtown Harrisburg I was out with
my friends, and she was out with her friends, and we bumped
into one another.
Q Okay. You mentioned you've seen Jason with
the children. Would you say Jason has been consistent with
the children through this entire time of their separation?
A Yes. Yes, he's still involved. In fact, we
try to plan our rides, you know, because of his schedule
with the kids, you know. Whether he's at a game or doing
different functions with the children, we sometimes have to
reschedule our riding, you know, because of that.
Q So you have done that? You have rescheduled?
A Yes, or he has or he won't ride with us then
because of, you know, another obligation he has with the
children.
Q All right. And you knew Jennifer before from
work. In your opinion, is Jennifer the same now as she was
before the split?
MR. SCHERER: Objection as to his opinion,
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1 Your Honor.
2 THE COURT: Well, I'm not taking that to mean
3 not so much opinion but what changes, if any, he's observed.
4 MR. MATEYA: Thank you, Your Honor.
5 THE WITNESS: I haven't really interacted
6 with Jennifer much since the split. I did see her downtown.
7 As mentioned earlie r she has lost some weight. She seems
8 more confident, pos itive, and, you know, we spoke briefly,
9 but again I don't i nteract with her too often.
10 MR. MATEYA: I have nothing further, Your
11 Honor.
12 MR. SCHERER: No questions, Your Honor.
13 THE COURT: Thank you.
14 MR. MATEYA: I would like to call Rhonda
15 Lang.
16 MR. SCHERER: Ask for an offer of proof, Your
17 Honor.
18 MR. MATEYA: Sure.
19 THE COURT: Similar to the last?
20 MR. MATEYA: There is -- yes, it is. Some of
21 it is similar, but Mrs. Lang can testify as to Mr. Gordon's
22 assisting her while Mr. Lang was called to active service in
23 Afghanistan to show character.
24 THE COURT: All right.
25 Whereupon,
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•
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RHONDA LANG
having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. MATEYA:
Q Could you state your name for the record.
A Rhonda Lang.
Q And your address?
A 6093 Rockland Drive, Harrisburg, PA.
Q And where are you employed?
A Capital Blue Cross.
Q And I take.it you know Jason and Jennifer?
A Um-hum.
Q And you just heard your husband's testimony,
so we don't have to repeat everything. Your two children,
you've seen them play with the Gordon children. Is that
right?
A Yes.
Q And you've seen Jason with the Gordon
children?
A Yes.
Q I will ask you specifically is there anything
that you have seen or -- I'm sorry. Let me rephrase that.
Is there any way that Jason has been a good neighbor to you,
good friend t o you in the time that you've known him?
A Yes, my husband is in the In ternational
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1 Guard. Occasionally he's called away for active duty. On
2 at least two occasions and probably more when Marvin is away
3 -- Jason obviously knows about it since he's one of his best
4 friends -- Jason usually gives me a call, asks is everything
5 okay.
6 The last time Marvin went away was last summer. I
7 was pregnant with my daughter, and I was home for about
8 three weeks by myself, and Jason called. I wasn't home, but
9 he left a message. He actually left a message for my son.
10 He said, Hi, Justin, this is Jason. Tell your mom if she
11 needs anything, if she needs the grass cut.
12 And on another occasion it was during the winter,
13 Jason had given me a call. We actually -- I think it was
14 during a bigger snowstorm, and I was home by myself with my
15 son. He had called, and we had talked, and he said if I
16 ever needed any help or if I needed the snow shoveled, you
17 know, just to give him a call. So I can usually count on
18 him to at least call if Marvin is away.
19 Q And how long have you known Jason?
20 A I met Jason through Jen. I'd say probably
21 about seven years or so.
22 Q Okay. And these interactions that you were
23 talking about, how he was offering help.
24 A Um-hum.
25 Q Is this something you asked for?
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A No.
Q To your knowledge is it something Marvin
asked for?
A No. The last time that Marvin was away, I
received two phone calls from his friends, and Jason was one
of them. When I told him, it wasn't no surprise, but at the
same time Marvin didn't ask either.
MR. MATEYA: Okay. Your Honor, I have
nothing further.
MR. SCHERER: No questions, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Thank you.
MR. MATEYA: I would like to call Pat
Auckerman to the stand.
Whereupon,
PATRICIA AUCKERMAN
having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. MATEYA:
Q
A
Q
A
Pennsylvania.
Q
A
Could you state your name.
Patricia Auckerman.
And your address?
217 West Springville Road, Boiling Springs,
And where do you work?
I'm a homemaker and I also take care of my
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1 grandchildren.
2 Q And you're married. Is that correct?
3 A Yes.
4 Q And your relationship to Jennifer Gordon?
5 A She's my daughter.
6 Q Would you say in the past that you've had a
7 close relationship with Jennifer?
8 A Absolutely. We were very close, did a lot of
9 things together, go to different places together. We were
10 friends.
11 Q Do you still have that close relationship?
12 A Not at all.
13 Q And, Mrs. Auckerman, I know this is
14 difficult. If you could, could you tell us in your opinion
15 what happened?
16 A Honestly I don't know what happened. She
17 just started acting differently towards me.
18 Q When was -- when did that begin?
19 A I believe it was the summer of 2004. I just
20 noticed she was -- just acted different. If I'd ask her a
21 question, she was kind of snippy with me, just give me like
22 a smart answer, and, you know, not want to really talk to
23 me.
24 At that time, too, I noticed when she picked up
25 the boys, she just kind of seemed overwhelmed. She
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1 complained about the boring routine of going home, picking
2 the boys up, going home every day, making dinner, you know,
3 getting the boys ready for bed, and everything like that.
4 Plus she had a part-time job at that time. She
5 was working, I think, one night -- I think it was just one
6 night a week. I just kind of mentioned to her, well, you
7 know, maybe you need to give that job up. Oh, no, that was
8 out of the question.
9 Then again, I think it was later that year, she
10 got a second part-time job, and I was just totally like
11 flabbergasted. I thought she was being overwhelmed with a
12 full-time job, raising two boys, and having a part-time job,
13 and then she got another one.
14 Then, I don't know, the holidays that year were
15 not very good. I don't know. Things just -- I knew there
16 was something n ot right, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
17 Q Let me move forward, if I can, in time.
18 A Okay.
19 Q When Jennifer moved out of the marital home,
20 did you see an additional change then? Did you see a
21 continuation of the change at that point or any change at
22 all?
23 A Yes, it was constantly just changing, pulling
24 more away from the family, more self-involved, and --
25 Q Had she prior to that been focused on the
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1 children?
2 A Oh, yes, uh-huh.
3 Q And so where did her focus move to then after
4 she moved ou t of the marital home?
5 A Just seemed centered around her and her new
6 friend.
7 Q And who would that be?
8 A Shannon.
9 Q Okay. Can you give me any examples of things
10 you saw that led you to believe that, that she was no longer
11 focused on t he family but focused on Shannon?
12 A Well, every time there was a holiday she
13 would be off on a trip with him and not come to our family
14 functions. We invited her to Thanksgiving dinner, which she
15 turned down, because we wouldn't invite Shannon.
16 Q But she did attend some family functions,
17 didn't she?
18 A She did come -- we had a picnic at Labor Day,
19 and she did come to that because she kind of gave me an
20 ultimatum. We had to meet Shannon or she was kind of not
21 even going t o bother with the family anymore.
22 Q Okay.
23 A She did go -- let me see. My son's son was
24 just baptized recently. She did go to the church, and she
25 was there. She came by herself.
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1 Q So you've seen her interact some?
2 A Some, um-hum.
3 Q Okay. All right. Do I understand from what
4 I've heard earlier today you are the caretaker for Dakota
5 and Noah?
6 A Yes, I am.
7 Q And can you tell me about that?
8 A Well, I started watching Dakota when he was
9 three months old. At that time I was also watching another
10 little girl, but that only lasted, I think it was like two
11 or three months, because then her mother got laid off from
12 her job.
13 So then it was just Dakota and I, and, you know, I
14 just devoted all my time to him, and I took him places. I
15 took him to a play group that met weekly, one day a week, a
16 play group there.
17 Then I got him into the Y. I think that was like
18 on Fridays we went, and they just like ran around the gym
19 getting all their energy out, and they could play -- they
20 had all different kinds of things that they could play with.
21 Q Okay.
22 A You know, just things like that.
23 Q And presently you watch both children. Are
24 those the only two children that you watch?
25 A No, I also watch my granddaughter.
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1 Q And who is -- could you explain who that is
2 and what the relationships are?
3 A My daughter -- it's my daughter Heidi's
4 little girl, Mikayla. She's eighteen months old.
5 Q And are there any other nieces and nephews
6 that live nea rby?
7 A My son lives in Mechanicsburg.
8 Q Does he have any children?
9 A Yes, he has a nine-month-old boy, and I do
10 occasionally babysit him.
11 Q And any others or is that it?
12 A That's it.
13 MR. MATEYA: Your Honor, if I could just have
14 one moment.
15 THE COURT: Um-hum.
16 BY MR. MATEYA :
17 Q Okay. It's been some time that you have been
18 watching the children?
19 A Um-hum.
20 Q If these children were not here and they were
21 in Texas, can you tell me what your personal reaction would
22 be?
23 A I would be pretty much heartbroken because
24 there would be no way that I could ever visit them.
25 Q Why is that?
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I A Financial reasons and neither of us are fond
2 of flying. I've never been on an airplane, but I would do
3 it to go see my grandchildren.
4 Q Sure. Sure. And as far as the bonding
5 between you and Dakota and Noah, you were here to hear Ms.
6 Devlin, the expert, talk about that. Would you say that
7 what she said was accurate inasmuch as you have bonded very
8 well with the children?
9 A Yes.
10 Q Okay. Do you ever have run-ins with the
11 children? I mean I suppose all grandparents do.
12 A Oh, yeah.
13 Q Are there any particular behavior problems
14 that you have with Dakota or Noah?
15 A Yes, every once in a while Dakota will start
16 fighting with the -- I do watch another little girl before
17 and after school -- and there will be times they'll be best
18 of friends and then they'll start, just out of the blue,
19 he'll start hitting her, kicking her, and, you know --
20 Q So do you end up having to be a referee as
21 well?
22 A Oh, yes.
23 Q And would you say this is -- you've raised
24 children -- would you say this is fairly normal behavior for
25 his age?
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1 A I guess it could be.
2 Q Okay. That's fine. You mentioned that it
3 would be difficult because of flying to go to Texas. Can
4 you and your husband afford to take a trip to Texas any time
5 you want financially?
6 A Oh, absolutely not.
7 MR. MATEYA: I have nothing further, Your
8 Honor.
9 CROSS-EXAMINATION
10 BY MR. SCHERER:
11 Q Ma'am, you obviously were not happy about
12 your daughter and the breakup of her marriage. Is that
13 right?
14 A No, I wasn't happy about it. Who would be
15 happy about a marriage breaking up?
16 Q Right. And do you feel as though you behaved
17 any differently towards her around the time she separated
18 from her husband?
19 A When she came over and told us the first
20 night they were separating, we were with her a hundred
21 percent. We said we would support her. No problems. Two
22 days later when she sent me this e-mail, I was appalled at
23 what I read.
24 She just told me about this friendship, that she
25 had met this guy a few months ago. It was just friendship,
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1 but if it ever developed into something else, you know, that
2 was a possibility that could go further.
3 In the letter it also stated that she was -- I
4 don't know. She just turned like really nasty toward me,
5 like blaming me for everything that was wrong in her life,
6 and it was just so hurtful.
7 I mean, that was her way of communicating to me
8 through e-mails, and quite frankly I stopped reading them.
9 When I got an e-mail from her, I didn't read them. I let
10 her father read them. I couldn't do it. The pain was too
11 hard.
12 Q obviously as a caretaker of the kids, you end
13 up having to do a lot for them. Is that right?
14 A Yes.
15 Q You help get them cleaned up and feed them?
16 A Yes.
17 Q You make sure they behave?
18 A Yes.
19 Q Do you, yourself, think that your role has
20 gone beyond that of a grandparent and you've become too much
21 like a parent to these children?
22 A Absolutely not. That's ridiculous.
23 MR. SCHERER: I don't have any other
24 questions.
25 MR. MATEYA: Nothing further, Your Honor.
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1 THE COURT: Thank you, ma'am.
2 MR. MATEYA: I call Foster Auckerman to the
3 stand.
4 Whereupon,
5 FOSTER AUCKERMAN
6 having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
7 DIRECT EXAMINATION
8 BY MR. MATEYA:
9 Q Good afternoon. Could you give us your name,
10 please.
11 A Foster Auckerman.
12 Q And your address?
13 A 217 West Springville Road, Boiling Springs,
14 Pennsylvania.
15 Q And where are you employed, sir?
16 A Washington Group International.
17 Q And where is that at?
18 A It's -- they're out of Boise, but we're a
19 vendor for IBM .
20 Q And you just heard -- am I correct this was
21 your wife's te stimony?
22 A Yes.
23 Q So your relationship to Jennifer is --
24 A She's my daughter.
25 Q Just really one question. Since the time,
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1 oh, say, the last one and a half years, have you seen a
2 change in Jennifer?
3 A The only change that I've seen, because I
4 don't -- because usually when I get home, she's -- the boys
5 are usually picked up or she's gone, but usually family
6 functions they're not as -- when we are together, we're not
7 a family unit per se.
8 It's -- we're there. The communication is not
9 there among the kids, I mean the joking and the laughter.
10 It's -- if it wasn't for the grandkids being there and my
11 kids interacting with them, the conversation would just be
12 small chitchat basically.
13 Q And so I hear that change, do you attribute
14 that change all to Jennifer?
15 A No. Well, I think it's the situation.
16 Q And what do you mean by the situation?
17 A The situation with my daughter and Shannon
18 and not wanting to bring up the situation that evolved, you
19 know, from that, from the marriage breakup and that. They
20 just don't want to talk about it, you know.
21 They try to avoid it, you know, around us now.
22 Whether they talk on the phone or about it, that I don't
23 know, but, you know, on family functions we try to just stay
24 away from that and so the conversation is kind of chitchat
25 stuff, you know.
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1 Q Would it be fair for me to say you are
2 supporting Jas on in having the children stay here with him?
3 A I'm supporting the children staying here and
4 Jason, yeah.
5 Q What would it mean to you if these children
6 were moved to Texas?
7 A I mean it would hurt.
8 MR. MATEYA: I have nothing further, Your
9 Honor.
10 MR. SCHERER: I don't have any questions.
11 THE COURT: Thank you.
12 MR. MATEYA: Call Jason Gordon to the stand.
13 Whereupon,
14 JASON GORDON
15 having been duly sworn, testified as follows:
16 DIRECT EXAMINATION
17 BY MR. MATEYA:
18 Q Could you state your name for the record,
19 please.
20 A Jason Gordon.
21 Q And your address?
22 A 33 Pine Street, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
23 Q And can you tell me where you are employed?
24 A Nationwide Insurance.
25 Q And your two children, Jason, you understand
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why we're here today. Is that correct?
A of course.
Q Jason, why do you want your children to stay
here in Carlisle with you after your wife leaves for Texas?
A I'm concerned about the welfare of the kids.
Right now they have a strong family network around them.
Myself, Jen, the grandparents, the cousins that they see on
a daily basis, the aunts, the uncles. That situation, that
family structure is lost if they move to Texas.
Q All right. We're going to come back to that
in a little bit. I want to talk to you a little bit about
your employment. Nationwide, how long have you been there?
A About four years.
Q And how much do you make a year there?
A Forty-eight thousand.
Q And is there a promotion either in recent
past or upcoming?
A I just received a promotion in the last week
of January.
Q And tell us about the promotion. What is
that?
A Well, it's a -- it actually changes my role
in the company like most promotions do. I no longer work
out of the Harrisburg service center. I'm now a field
adjuster working from home which allows me to set my own
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1 schedules in accordance with the claim volume that we
2 receive in Cumberland and Franklin County.
3 Q And working from home, does this make it
4 easier to care for the children?
5 A Yes, it does.
6 Q Am I right there are some times when you are
7 called away on business for training coming up?
8 A I have a two-week training session coming up
9 that was a condition of me accepting the promotion.
10 Q Is that -- having to go away for two weeks,
11 is that something that happens on a regular basis?
12 A No, it's not. I have never left Central
13 Pennsylvania for work with Nationwide prior to this two-week
14 session coming up here this month.
15 Q Now, when the two weeks is upon you, who's
16 going to take care of the children?
17 A We have not made arrangements for it
18 specifically. Jen's parents have offered, Jen has offered,
19 so.-- the arrangements have not yet been set, but the safety
20 net is there to care for the children.
21 Q Let me talk to you a little bit about your
22 finances. Do you own your own home?
23 A Purchased it the week before Christmas this
24 year.
25 Q And is the mortgage current?
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1 A Yes, it is.
2 Q Have you ever defaulted on a mortgage?
3 A No, I have not.
4 Q You heard earlier today there was some
5 testimony abou t having financial struggles. Do you pay your
6 bills on time?
7 A Yes, I do.
8 Q Do you have any bills in collection?
9 A No.
10 Q Financially are you able to care for your
11 family?
12 A Yes, I am. I do it now. When we lived in
13 the home as a family unit with two incomes, it was a
14 struggle. I'm not going to lie. Like most young families,
15 finances were a struggle.
16 She left the home May 1st, and I continued to live
17 in the home, m aintain the home, pay the bills on a timely
18 manner includi ng the mortgage on one income after she left.
19 Q And you were able to get it all done?
20 A That's correct, yes.
21 Q All right. Let me shift gears a little bit.
22 Your wife want s to take the children to Texas with Shannon
23 Stark. Do you know Shannon?
24 A I've met Shannon. We've had conversations.
25 1 don't have a problem with Shannon. I'm sure he's a nice
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1 guy. I question the intent of moving the kids from the
2 stability that they have here to what is an unknown
3 situation.
4 Q And your wife moved in with Shannon. Did
5 that present any particular problem for you?
6 A It was painful. At the point where she had
7 left the home, she had moved into the mobile home on her
8 own, which I was okay with. At that point the marriage had
9 failed. Did I have a difficult time accepting the result of
10 a failed marriage? Certainly.
11 Was I hopeful that the marriage could be repaired?
12 Yeah, I was. At the time when Shannon had moved in with
13 her, I accepted the fact at that point that Jen and I were
14 not going to be married again.
15 Q Prior to this hearing, had you been asked to
16 grant the divorce?
17 A Yes.
18 Q And why have you decided not to grant the
19 divorce at this point?
20 A Right now I feared and still fear that once
21 the divorce is granted, she's going to leave. I mean with
22 or without the boys, she's going to leave, and I think that
23 that's going to be painful for a four year old and a six
24 year old to handle, and that by not granting the divorce,
25 you know, it keeps -- although the family nucleus is not
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1 together, it keeps the family nucleus in their lives. Both
2 parents are actively part of their daily life.
3 Q Now, talking about Texas, would traveling to
4 Texas for you be difficult if that's what you had to do to
5 see your children?
6 A Yes, it would.
7 Q Would the expense be an additional strain?
8 A Yes, it would. I'm sure it would for almost
9 any single income family.
10 Q All right. Let me step back a little bit to
11 approximately the time of the separation, maybe going back a
12 month before that. Was Jennifer staying out late?
13 A Yes, she was.
14 Q How often?
15 A It varied. I mean it would go in spurts
16 where it would be two or three times a week and then she
17 would go three weeks and not go out at all. On the average
18 I would say probably three to four times a month.
19 Q Did this cause her or anything else cause her
20 to miss any events that the boys had around this time?
21 A Yes, it did.
22 Q Like what?
23 A Well, she had missed -- they take the
24 swimming classes at Boiling Springs High School. It was a
25 two-week class. It's actually -- although it's two weeks,
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1 it's nine sessions, five days the first week, four the
2 second.
3 She had missed -- I know of one where it was the
4 final session, their little graduation. They get their
5 little certificate and they like dump water on their head.
6 Congratulations, you passed swimming lessons. She missed
7 that.
8 She missed T-ball practices. At that time and
9 even now today I'm one of the assistant coaches for Dakota's
10 baseball team, which it would burden me with having to watch
11 Noah, who's not old enough to play, and also assistant coach
12 the team.
13 Q That is an interesting choice of words, tat
14 it burdened you. What's the difficulty?
15 A Well, the difficulty is with Noah, he
16 requires a lot of attention. He wants to do everything hat
17 his brother wants to do.
18 Q Sure.
19 A He's simply not old enough. I mean the
20 league is like six and older, and you're four, buddy, I
21 don't know what to tell ya. It's just not going to happ n.
22 I'm not comfortable with just letting him go play on then
23 swingset and then me not directing any attention towards the
24 play area where he's playing for obvious reasons, safety
25 reasons, that type of stuff.
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Q Any birthdays missed during that time?
A The only birthday that was missed was
Dakota's most recent birthday in August. The last -- first
weekend in August. His birthday fell on a Saturday, and Jen
requested that we have the birthday party that Sunday
instead of that Saturday because she had -- she was going to
the truck show in Carlisle.
Q Was she going by herself as far as you know?
A She was going with Shannon.
Q And how do you know that?
A She told me.
Q Was -- at this point we're looking at last
summer. Was she -- was Jennifer spending more and more time
away?
A Yes.
Q And shortly after Jennifer moved out, she
asked you to drop something personal off to her?
A Yeah, that was probably one of the most
disturbing phone calls that I had received emotionally.
Q What was that?
A She had -- she was taking birth control
pills, and she had left the home, and I don't know exactly
where she was staying, that wasn't clear to me, but she had
left her new pack of birth control bills at home.
At that point obviously we weren't sexually
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1 active, but she still had the audacity to call me and ask me
2 if I could drop those birth control pills off to her.
3 Q Let's talk about the present custody
4 situation. Right now is the custody agreement working
5 between the two of you?
6 A Yeah, I like it. I mean it works out nice.
7 We're both able to attend the kids' functions. We
8 communicate well with regards to the welfare of the
9 children. If you can't pick them up, I'll pick them up. If
10 I can't pick them up, you pick them up. That's worked out
11 well. It allows me some me time, and it allows me the time
12 to spend with my kids, the valuable time to spend with my
13 kids as well.
14 Q Good. Has Jennifer ever taken any trips that
15 you were unaware of?
16 A Yes, she's taken -- part of the custody
17 agreement was that she inform me when she takes the kids out
18 of state for overnight stays. She has on several occasions
19 taken the boys in Shannon's 18 wheeler tractor and gone out
20 of state.
21 You know, it's exciting for them. They like that,
22 and that's good, I guess. The concerns that I have are the
23 safety of the children. It's my understanding from Dakota
24 and from Noah that they don't have any kind of seatbelts
25 that they wear or anything like that, and it's part of
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1 Shannon's job, and it's -- they get excited about that.
2 I me an my son knows like the manufacturers of
3 tractor-traile r rigs, and I mean what six year old knows
4 that stuff. S ome of it is cool to them. We've got to --
5 Dad, we got to pee in a cup in the tractor-trailer because
6 we didn't stop to go to the bathroom. You know, they think
7 that stuff is cool. I don't know that that's, you know,
8 that that's a long-term type situation that they should be
9 subjected to.
10 Q Did Jennifer ask you about these trips ahead
11 of time?
12 A No.
13 Q How did you find out about them?
14 A I found out about them through Dakota.
15 Q Have you personally seen Shannon's
16 tractor-traile r?
17 A Yes, I have.
18 Q And if you don't know the answer to this,
19 that's okay, b ut do you know for a fact that there are
20 restraints on the inside?
21 A I don't know.
22 Q All right. Let me talk a little bit about
23 the schooling. We have -- pardon me one second, Your Honor.
24 MR. MATEYA: I'm sorry. What number are we
25 up to for the exhibits? I am marking Plaintiff's 5, the
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1 evaluation report, the report card.
2 (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit No. 5 was
3 marked for identification by Mr. Mateya.)
4 BY MR. MATEYA:
5 Q Mr. Gordon, is this the report card of your
6 son, Dakota?
7 A Yes, it is.
8 Q Have you ever spoken with his teacher, Patty
9 Geiger?
10 A Yes, I have.
11 Q And what has she told you about how well he's
12 doing in school?
13 A He's a good kid. He does good in school.
14 He, you know, like most six-year-old boys, he has spoken out
15 in class without raising his hand. He is always
16 volunteering for work, sometimes out of turn to do it. He
17 has had some problems with the timeliness of his work in
18 school, but it's not very consistent, you know.
19 Q Has he had a problem with absences?
20 A The only absences he's had have been a result
21 of trips he's taken with Jen this year.
22 Q If the children are with you next school
23 year, will they stay in the same school, same school
24 district?
25 A Yes, they will.
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Q You saw a little earlier today there was some
testimony about the Harker Heights Elementary School in the
Killeen School District. Had Jennifer talked with you at
all about that school?
A No, she had not. Prior to our pretrial
preparation yes terday, I had no idea where they would be
attending schoo l or what her plans were.
Q So she had not talked to you about it at all?
A No, she had not.
Q Tell me, who is Monica Bernazzolli?
A She's a personal friend of mine.
Q And do you know where she lives?
A She lives in Dillsburg as well.
Q Is this somebody who you are having a
romantic relati onship with?
A Yeah, she's my girlfriend. I'm comfortable
saying she's my girlfriend.
Q She's in the room remember.
A I know. That's why I'm saying it.
Q Do you know has she met Jennifer?
A She has seen Jennifer at sporting events, but
they have not m et.
Q Has Monica met the Auckermans?
A Yes, she has.
Q And I call it your support group back here.
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1 Has she met most of your friends?
2 A Yes, she has.
3 Q Do you and Monica live together?
4 A No, we do not.
5 Q Has Monica been divorced?
6 A About six years from what I understand.
7 Q And she has a child. Is that right?
8 A She has one son. He's eleven.
9 Q And what's his name?
10 A His name is Dean.
11 Q And have you met Dean?
12 A Numerous occasions.
13 Q Do you get along well with Dean?
14 A Yes, and he gets along great with the boys.
15 I mean it's -- Dakota has a little dirt bike, and Dean also
16 has a dirt bik e, basketball in the driveway, skateboards,
17 shooting pool down in the basement. They're very close
18 friends.
19 Q So Dakota has a dirt bike?
20 A Yes.
21 Q Has Dakota ever been injured onithe bike?
22 A Nothing that required medical attention.
23 Just like a ki d learning to ride a bicycle, he's fallen off
24 the motorcycle or off the dirt bike.
25 Q No stitches or anthing.
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1 A No, nothing like that. The dirt bike is a
2 small little weed whacker engine. It's like a pull start
3 weed whacker engine. The top speed is about fifteen miles
4 an hour. I think I could probably run faster than the dirt
5 bike goes, but --
6 Q What would your reaction be if your children
7 were to move to Texas with your wife?
8 A That would definitely be the most devastating
9 thing that could happen to me, and I think the most
10 devastating thing that could happen to the boys. I have a
11 strong relationship with them now, and whatever I've got to
12 do aside from something criminal, I'll do.
13 I mean, I just -- they're everything to me. They
14 really are. I have no family here in Central Pennsylvania.
15 The only family I have in Central Pennsylvania is those two
16 boys, and that's why I'm here.
17 Q And do you have a good relationship with
18 Patty and Foster Auckerman?
19 A I do.
20 Q Would you consider them family, too?
21 A I would consider them family, certainly.
22 MR. MATEYA: Your Honor, I have no further
23 questions.
24 CROSS-EXAMINATION
25 BY MR. SCHERER:
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1 Q We heard you testify that Jen was going out
2 two to four times a month I believe was your testimony?
3 A That's correct.
4 Q Did this ever affect the boys in a direct
5 way? Did she ever leave them alone?
6 A No, they were never left unattended that I'm
7 aware of.
8 Q I think we heard another witness say it
9 affected you and it may have spilled over to the boys. Is
10 that fair to say?
11 A I was hurt by it, and I think my boys sensed
12 the pain. They didn't know what the cause of it was. At
13 that point it wasn't a healthy marriage. Mom and dad didn't
14 kiss, you know, and it was -- Jen and I at the end were good
15 at the business part of being married.
16 You know, the pick the kids up. It's your turn.
17 It's my turn. You know, Lawn Doctor on Wednesday, grocery
18 shopping on Friday. The business part of being married we
19 were good at. I think the boys certainly sensed the lack of
20 closeness with our family. That was a result of those type
21 of actions.
22 Q You don't have any concern about your boys
23 being with their mother. I mean you don't -- there's no --
24 A I'm not concerned about the physical welfare
25 of the children. Jen is not a bad parent where I worry that
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1 they will sustain some type of physical injury. I think
2 she's a parent, good parent, when she wants to be a good
3 parent, and unfortunately that's not all the time.
4 Q Well, explain to me the manner in which she's
5 a bad parent.
6 A I think that missing kid's baseball games, I
7 think that missing a kid's graduation from swimming lessons,
8 I think that, you know, missing a parent/teacher conference
9 to go to a Monday night football game, I think those type of
10 things are not strong qualities for a parent.
11 Q Well, you were going to miss your son's
12 birthday party. Isn't that right? You were going to skip
13 Noah's birthday party for some reason?
14 A I wasn't comfortable putting my kids in a
15 position where Shannon was going to be there and I was going
16 to be there and my boys would have to choose between which
17 one to give a hug to when they got off the rides at Chuck E.
18 Cheese's. That's what I didn't want to do.
19 Q Jennifer insists that she was at the swimming
20 graduation. Are you sure you're not mistaken about that?
21 A I'm sure. That was not this year. That was
22 last year. It was the same night of Shannon's birthday
23 party. Short time later is when I found credit card
24 receipts for flowers that my wife, who was still living with
25 me, had purchased for him for his birthday, so I'm very sure
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1 she wasn't at the graduation last year.
2 Q You had mentioned that Dakota has some
3 problem with timeliness of his work?
4 A It's not so much a problem. He does good on
5 his homework. His attention span in class was a concern for
6 Ms. Geiger. We have worked on it. She's indicated that
7 some of the things included having to move him up to the
8 front of the class to keep him on focus for the task in
9 front of him.
10 It's not -- she did not indicate at any time that
11 he was a disturbance to the class or it was not uncommon for
12 six year old boys to be that way. We discussed that at the
13 parent/teacher conference. Other than that, he just needs
14 to be reminded we have got work to do.
15 Q You had mentioned that Dakota missed school
16 on one occasion when he was in Jennifer's care?
17 A Two separate occasions.
18 Q Two occasions. And do you know the reasons
19 for the missed school?
20 A One was a mechanical failure of the vehicle
21 that they were traveling in, and the other one was -- from
22 what I understand it was -- they were going to visit some of
23 Shannon's friends that lived in Alabama or something,
24 somewhere down south, where she had taken him out of school
25 on a Friday for a three-day weekend.
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1 Q If the boys are given to you primarily, if
2 they're not sent to Texas, is it your intention to stay in
3 the Central Pennsylvania area?
4 A Yes, it is. As a matter of fact, as I
5 elluded to earlier, the home that I purchased I purchased in
6 South Middleton Township as a requirement for where I was
7 going to live because that's the school district that
8 they're in now.
9 When I spoke with my realtor, he explained to me
10 that there are other opportunities out there, Mechanicsburg,
11 Dillsburg, York Springs, and one of the requirements for me
12 was I want to stay in South Middleton Township because
13 that's a family network that the kids are familiar with.
14 When Jen moved out of the home, we had asked her
15 -- I had asked her to remain in the school district so it
16 would not be a concern for the children having left the
17 school district and still sleeping outside the school
18 district during school days and still attending South
19 Middleton School District.
20 Q What took place over Memorial Day weekend
21 that you weren't able to exercise custody of the children?
22 A This past Memorial Day?
23 Q Yes.
24 A I had no plans this past Memorial Day
25 weekend. We had agreed last year that on the three-day
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1 weekends, we would switch off. Last Memorial Day weekend I
2 had the kids. I went and visited -- took the boys to
3 Cleveland to visit their grandparents and their cousin.
4 Same with the 4th of July. When Memorial Day
5 weekend came up this year, I felt that this was important
6 that they spend the time with Jen, which is what we had
7 agreed on last year, and it's my understanding she's leaving
8 in August. I don't want to take away any time from them
9 spending with their mother before she leaves.
10 Q Do you think it would be a benefit to the
11 children if they were able to be in a home with their mother
12 when their mother wouldn't work?
13 A I don't think Jen is the type to be a
14 stay-at-home mom. I mean she has a history of having a
15 full-time job and two part-time jobs, and for me to hear
16 today that she plans to stay home and be a stay-at-home mom
17 knocks my socks off. I just -- I would be surprised if that
18 was going to happen.
19 Q I understand that your testimony is that you
20 want the children here with you?
21 A That's correct.
22 Q Do you understand the responsibility you're
23 going to be taking on if they're given to you and Jen moves
24 to Texas?
25 A Yes, I do.
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1 Q And you're willing to sacrifice the mountain
2 biking and the time that you go out for the children?
3 A I'm doing it now. As Marvin alluded to, I
4 miss the mountain b iking. I miss the time with my friends.
5 I have never, that I can think of, put my time before time
6 spent with my child ren.
7 MR. SCHERER: I don't have any other
8 questions.
9 MR. MATEYA: Your Honor, I have nothing
10 further.
11 THE COURT: Thank you.
12 MR. MATEYA: Your Honor, at this time I would
13 move that the five exhibits that we put in would be entered
14 into evidence.
15 THE COURT: Okay. Any objection?
16 MR. SCHERER: No, Your Honor.
17 (Whereupon, Plaintiff's Exhibit Nos. 1
18 through 5 were admitted into evidence.)
19 THE COURT: All right. Anything further?
20 MR. MATEYA: No, I don't, Your Honor. I
21 don't know if -- I don't believe I've had a custody case in
22 front of you before. I don't know if you care to hear
23 closing statements or if you had your fill of hearing what
24 you need to today.
25 THE COURT: Well, I think that -- I very
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1 often do talk to the child, and then to the degree that
2 counsel want to make argument since we're already in
3 chambers at that point.
4 I think I should talk to Dakota or is the
5 inclination that I not? I think he's probably old enough.
6 Before you answer the question, I'm not going to ask him
7 which parent he wants to live with.
8 I would never, never think of that, but it would
9 be -- it's more than passing interest, you know, about the
10 little lad whose life I'm affecting. I'll speak to Dakota
11 about whether he has pets, what he does on the computer, you
12 know, that sort of thing.
13 MR. MATEYA: Absolutely.
14 THE COURT: And then I would say having
15 adjourned there, if you care to make any statements or if
16 there's something you want to submit in writing, that's
17 fine.
18 MR. SCHERER: Your Honor, Dakota and Noah are
19 not here right now. They can be here in about ten minutes.
20 THE COURT: Well, I had planned to take a
21 break anyway.
22 MR. SCHERER: Okay. I'll let you know as
23 soon as --
24 THE COURT: Don't let anybody speed to get
25 here.
139
•
1 MR. SCHERER: Okay.
2 (Whereupon, a recess was taken at 2:15 p.m.)
3 THE COURT: I just heard the testimony that
4 Noah likes to do everything his brother does, and I can't
5 see any harm in having them both sit in the room.
6 (Whereupon, the children were interviewed in
7 chambers.)
8 (Whereupon, the proceedi ngs were concluded.)
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
140
•
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify that the proceedings are
contained fully and accurately in the notes taken by me on
the above cause and that this is a correct transcript of
the same.
lures R hand( '"
Laura F. Handley
Official Court Reporter
The foregoing record of the proceedings on the
hearing of the within matter is hereby approved and
directed to be filed.
4&4&.Y /;r, e&-ft
Date
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 2005 - 4004 CIVIL TERM
CIVIL ACTION-LAW
DEFENDANT'S AFFIDAVIT OF CONSENT
AND WAIVER OF NOTICE OF INTENTION TO REQUEST ENTRY
OF DIVORCE DECREE UNDER SECTION 3301( ) OF THE DIVORCE CODE
1. A complaint in divorce under Section 3301(c) of the Divorce Code was
filed on August 5, 2005.
2. The marriage of Plaintiff and Defendant is irretrievably broken and ninety
days have elapsed from the date of the filing of the Complaint.
3. 1 consent to the entry of a final decree in divorce without notice.
4. 1 understand that I may lose rights concerning alimony, division of
property, lawyer's fees or expenses if I do not claim them before a divorce is granted.
5. 1 understand that I will not be divorced until a divorce decree is entered by
the Court and that a copy of the decree will be sent to me immediately after it is filed
with the Prothonotary.
6. 1 have been advised of the availability of marriage counseling and
understand that I may request that the court require counseling. 1 do not request that
the court require counseling.
I verify that the statements made in this affidavit are true and correct. I
understand that false statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18
Pa.C.S.A. Section 4004 relating to unsworn faisification to authorities.
Date:
/Z7en?r? J ordon
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8 ?' j?
JASON D. GORDON, : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
Plaintiff : CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
V. : CIVIL ACTION - LAW
: NO. 05-4004
JENNIFER J. GORDON, .
Defendant : IN DIVORCE
AFFIDAVIT OF CONSENT
1. A Complaint in Divorce under Section 3301(c) or (d) of the Divorce Code was filed on
August 5, 2005.
2. The marriage of Plaintiff and Defendant is irretrievably broken and ninety (90) days
have elapsed from the date of filing and service of the Complaint.
3. I consent to the entry of a final decree in divorce after service of notice of intention
to request entry of the decree.
i verify that the statements made in this affidavit are true and correct. I understand that false
statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa.C.S. §4904 relating to unsworn
falsification to authorities.
D. Gordon
?eo 7
DATED: 7
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JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
: CIVIL ACTION - LAW
: NO. 05-4004
: IN DIVORCE
WAIVER OF NOTICE OF INTENTION TO REQUEST ENTRY OF
A DIVORCE DECREE UNDER § 3301(c) OF THE DIVORCE CODE
1. I consent to the entry of a final decree of divorce without notice.
2. I understand that I may lose rights concerning alimony, division of property,
lawyer's fees or expenses if I do not claim them before a divorce is granted.
3. I understand that I will not be divorced until a divorce decree is entered by the
Court and that a copy of the decree will be sent to me immediately after it is filed with the
Prothonotary.
I verify that the statements made in this affidavit are true and correct. I understand that
false statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904 relating to unsworn
falsification to authorities.
DATE 712-0107
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JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON
n/k/a JENNIFER J. STARK,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 2005 - 4004 CIVIL TERM
CIVIL ACTION-LAW
PETITION FOR CONTEMPT
1. The Petitioner is Jennifer J. Gordon (hereinafter referred to as "Mother")
who is an adult individual who resides at 4801 Morning Star Lane, Killeen, Bell County,
Texas and is represented by Michael A. Scherer, Esquire.
2. The Respondent is Jason D. Gordon (hereinafter referred to as "Father")
who is an adult individual who resides at 33 Pine Street, Carlisle, Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania and is represented by Mark A. Mateya, Esquire.
3. The parties are the parents of two minor children, Dakota Gordon, born
August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon, born April 30, 2002, (hereinafter referred to as
"Children").
4. The parties are governed by an Order of Court dated July 18, 2007, a
copy is provided hereafter as "Exhibit A".
5. Father refuses to provide Mother information regarding the children in
violation of his obligation to share legal custody with Mother.
6. August 26, 2007, Mother contacted Father by telephone and asked for the
children's bus schedule and despite school starting on August 28, 2007, Father
indicated he didn't know the exact time the children would be picked up and stated taht
his mother-in-law had the information and he thought it was between 8:00 a.m and 8:12
a.m.; and Father would not commit to providing that information to Mother.
4
7. On August 26, 2007, Mother asked Father for the children's soccer
schedule and Father refused to provide it since Mother did not pay one half of the
registration fee.
8. Currently there is an Order of Support against Mother and in favor of
Father and Mother advised Father that she was no longer obligated to pay half of the
children's activity fees since Father now has a Support Order in his favor.
9. The Order provides at paragraph 2 d. that Mother is permitted to see the
children when she is in Carlisle.
10. Father has refused Mother visitation with children during her last four visits
to Carlisle because he states that the children are "busy" but refuses to indicate what
activities prevent Mother from seeing the children.
11. The Order provides at paragraph 2 a. that Mother is to make the
arrangements for the children to visit with her in Texas during various times of the year.
12. Mother has requested Father to drive the children to the airport in
Harrisburg for the Christmas holiday, 2007, for the children to get a direct flight to Texas
where Mother would receive them at the airport. Father is refusing to transport the
children to the airport pursuant to the arrangements Mother has made.
13. Mother has contacted US Airways and the children are suitable for
transportation in this manner as set forth in the letter attached as "Exhibit B."
WHEREFORE, Mother respectfully requests this Honorable Court enter an Order
a. finding Father in contempt for refusing to provide Mother with information
regarding the children's schooling and activities; and,
w
b. finding Father in contempt for refusing to allow Mother to visit with the
children when Mother is in Carlisle; and,
c. directing Father to transport the children to the Harrisburg airport for their
flight to Texas in December, 2007 and at such other times as Mother makes
arrangements for them to take a direct flight to Texas; and,
d. directing Father to pay the costs associated with this Petition, including
reasonable attorney's fees.
Date: -3 -ZC1-0?
1A 414-6 L
Michael A. Sche r, Esquire
I. D. # 61974
19 West South Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
(717) 249-6873
Attorney for Defendant
mas.dir/domestic/gordon/contempt.pet
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I veft *,at the "Wants made in the t"going PeRltior? for Contempt are true
and oorreck i undomt and that false Statements made herein are made suNedt to the
penattles of 18 Pa. C.S. § 49134, relating to urwwom felsificoWn to authorities.
Date: ?3 Iz-9 A 00 7
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IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
No.05-4004
CIVIL ACTION - LAW
IN DIVORCE
MARITAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT is made this 16-1v of 2007, BY
and BETWEEN Jason D. Gordon, 33 Pine Street, Carlisle, Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania, hereinafter referred to as "Husband,"
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Jennifer J. Gordon, of 4801 Morning Star Lane, Kileen, Bell County, Texas, hereinafter
referred to as "Wife."
RECITALS
The Parties hereto are Husband and Wife, having been joined in marriage
on October 11, 1997 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania; and,
Two (2) children were born of the marriage: Dakota D. Gordon, born
August 6, 1999 and Noah M. Gordon, born April 30, 2002; and,
Differences have arisen between the parties, in consequence of which they
have lived separate and apart since on or about April 30, 2005; and,
The Parties have resolved that it is not possible to continue the marital
relationship between them for reasons known to them, in consequence of which they are
living separate and apart; and,
•
•
Husband filed a Complaint for Divorce in the Court of Common Pleas of
Cumberland County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to above-captioned docket
number; and,
It is the desire and intention of the parties, to amicably adjust, compromise
and settle all property rights, and all rights in, to or against the property or estate of the
other, including property heretofore or subsequently acquired by either party, and to
settle all disputes existing between them, including any claims or rights that they may
have under the provisions of the Pennsylvania Divorce Code, as amended; and,
Husband and Wife declare that each has had a full and fair opportunity to
obtain independent legal advice of counsel of their selection; that Husband has been
independently represented by Mark Mateya, Esquire and that Wife has been
independently represented by Michael A. Scherer, Esquire.
NOW THEREFORE, with the aforementioned recitals being hereinafter
incorporated by reference and deemed an essential part hereof and in consideration of the
covenants and promises hereinafter to be mutually kept and performed by each party, as
well as for other good and valuable consideration, receipt of which is hereby
acknowledged, and the parties, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:
(1) SEPARATION: It shall be lawful for each party at all times
hereafter to live separate and apart from the other party at such place or places as he or
she from time to time may choose or deem fit, free from any control, restraint or
interference from the other. Neither party shall disparage or discredit the other in any
way, nor in any way injure his or her reputation; nor shall either of them act or permit
anyone else to act in any way which might tend to create any disaffection or disloyalty or
disrespect between the members of the family of either party.
(2) DIVORCE: The parties acknowledge that the marriage is irretrievably
broken and that they will secure a mutual consent no-fault divorce decree in the above-
captioned divorce action. Simultaneous with the execution of this Agreement, the parties
shall execute the Affidavits of Consent and Waiver of Notice Forms necessary to finalize
said divorce. Said Affidavits and Waivers shall be immediately filed with the
Prothonotary's Office.
If either party fails or refuses to execute and file the foregoing documents, said
failure or refusal shall be considered a material breach of this Agreement and shall entitle
the other party at his or her option to terminate this Agreement.
(3) REAL PROPERTY: The parties were the joint owners of certain
real property located at 304 McLand Road, Mt. Holly Springs, Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania (hereinafter "Marital Residence"). The proceeds from the sale of the
marital home have been distributed to the satisfaction of both Husband and Wife.
(4) DEBT:
A. MARITAL DEBT: Husband and Wife acknowledge and agree
that there are no outstanding debts and obligations which are
marital or for which the other might be liable incurred prior to the
signing of this Agreement (aside from the mortgage and home
equity loan on the marital residence, which loans will be paid off
at settlement).
B: POST SEPARATION DEBT: Except as otherwise herein
provided, in the event that either party contracted or incurred any
debt since the date of separation, the party who incurred said debt
shall be responsible for the payment thereof regardless of the name
in which the debt may have been incurred.
C: FUTURE DEBT: Except as otherwise herein provided, from
the date of this agreement neither party shall contract or incur any
debt or liability for which the other party or his or her property or
e§tate might be responsible and shall indemnify and save the other
party harmless from any and all claims or demands made against
him or her by reason of debts or obligations incurred by the other
party.
(5) MOTOR VEHICLES: Husband and wife acknowledge that each
has his and her own vehicle. The parties hereby waive any ownership -interest they have
in an automobile titled to the other party and each party shall jointly be solely
responsible for the encumbrances on the vehicles they possess.
(6) TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY: The parties hereto mutually
agree that they have effected a satisfactory division of the furniture, household
furnishings, appliances, tools and other household personal property between them, and
they mutually agree that each party shall from and after the date hereof be the sole and
separate owner of all such property presently in his or her possession whether said
property was heretofore owned jointly or individually by the parties. This Agreement
shall have the effect of an assignment or bill of sale from each party to the other for such
property as may be in the individual possession of the parties hereto.
(7) INTANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY:
Except as otherwise provided herein, each party hereto hereby relinquishes any
right, title or interest he or she may have in or to any intangible personal property
currently titled in the name of or in the possession of the other party, including, but not
limited to, stocks, bonds, insurance, bank a--counts, individual retirement accounts,
employment benefits, including retirement accounts, savings plans, pension plans, stock
plans, 401 K plans, and the like.
Wife was employed by Capital Blue Cross and has accrued retirement benefits
with her former employer. Husband is employed by Nationwide Insurance and has
accrued retirement benefits through his employer. Each party hereby specifically waives
any interest each may have gained in the retirement of the other and each party shall keep
as their separate property the their retirement account.
(8) WAIVER OF ALIMONY: The Parties acknowledge that each has
income and assets satisfactory to meet his and her own reasonable needs. Each Party
waives any claim he or she may have, one against the other, for alimony, spousal support
or alimony pendente lite.
(9) CHILD SUPPORT:Child support shall be according to the Cumberland
County, Domestic Relations case, PACSES Case Number 861108606, Docket Number
00791 S 2006.
(10) CUSTODY: Custody of the children shall be according to the Custody
Order which is part of this same docket number, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania,
No.05-400.
(11) DIVISION OF BANK ACCOUNTS: The parties acknowledge that
all joint bank accounts have been closed or divided to their mutual satisfaction prior to
the execution of this Agreement. The parties hereto further acknowledge and agree that
any bank accounts established individually by the parties shall become the sole and
separate property of that party simultaneous with the execution of this Agreement.
(12) AFTER-ACQUIRED PROPERTY: Each of the parties shall own
and enjoy, independently of any claims or rights of the other all real property and all items
of personal property, tangible or intangible, hereafter acquired, with full power to dispose
of the same as fully and effectively as though he or she were unmarried. Any property so
acquired shall be owned solely by that party and the other party shall have no claim to that
property.
0
(13) LIFE INSURANCE: To the extent that either of the parties have
life insurance policies, simultaneous with the execution of this Agreement, those policies
shall become the sole and separate property of the individual owning the policy. Nothing
in this Agreement will prevent either party from designating beneficiaries under or
encumbering their respective life insurance policies.
(14) ATTORNEY'S FEES: Except as otherwise herein provided, each of
the parties waives the right to receive a payment for counsel fees from the other, and each
shall be responsible for his or her own counsel fees, costs and expenses, if such fees or
expenses are incurred.
(15) ADDITIONAL INSTRUMENTS: Except as otherwise herein provided,
each of the parties shall from time to time, at the request of the other, execute,
acknowledge and deliver to the other party, within ten (10) days of any request to do so,
any and all further instruments that may be reasonably required to give full force and
effect to the provisions of this Agreement.
(16) BANKRUPTCY: The parties hereby agree that the provisions of this
Agreement shall not be dischargeable in Bankruptcy and expressly agree to reaffirm any
and all obligations contained herein.
(17) COMPLETE DISCLOSURE: Each of the Parties hereto
acknowledges that he or she is aware of his or her right to seek discovery including, but
not limited to, written interrogatories, motions for production of documents, the taking of
oral depositions, the filing of inventories and all other means of discovery permitted
under the Pennsylvania Divorce Code or the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure.
Each Party further acknowledges that he or she has had the opportunity to discuss with
counsel, if desired, the concept of marital property under Pennsylvania law and each is
aware of his or her right to have the real and/or personal property, estate and assets,
earnings and income of the other assessed or evaluated by the courts of this
Commonwealth or any other court of competent jurisdiction. The Parties do hereby
acknowledge that there has been full and fair disclosure to the other of his or her
respective income, assets and liabilities, whether such are held jointly, in the name of one
party alone or in the name of one of the parties and another individual or individuals.
Each party agrees that any right to further disclosure, valuation, appraisal or enumeration
or statement thereof in this Agreement is hereby specifically waived, and other than
provided herein, the parties do not wish to make or append hereto any further
enumeration or statement. The Parties hereby acknowledge and agree that the division
of assets as set forth in this Agreement is fair, reasonable and equitable, and is
satisfactory to them. Each of the Parties hereto further covenants and agrees for himself
and herself and his or her heirs, executors, administrators or assigns, that he or she will
never at any time hereafter sue the other Party or his or her . heirs, executors,
administrators or assigns in any action of contention, direct or indirect, and allege therein
that there was a denial of any rights to full disclosure, or that there was any fraud, duress,
undue influence or that there was a failure to have available to him or her full, proper and
independent representation by legal counsel.
(18) WAIVER OF APPRAISALS: The parties acknowledge that they are aware
of their respective rights pursuant to the Pennsylvania Divorce Code to obtain formal
valuations or appraisals of the real estate, the personal property, the vehicles, and 401 K's
0 0
and IRA's, some or all of which were acquired during the marriage and therefore
constitute marital property. However, the Parties have determined that they will not
undertake the expense to have these items appraised and/or valuated, and that the
division of property as set forth in this agreement, represents a fair and equitable
distribution.
(19) RELEASE of ALL CLAIMS: Except as otherwise provided herein,
each Party releases and discharges completely and forever the other from any and all
right, title, interest or claim of past, present or future support, division of property,
including income of gain from property hereafter accruing, right of dower or curtesy, the
right to act as administrator or executor of the estate of the other, the right to a
distributive share of the other's estate, any right of exemption in the estate of the other, or
any other property rights, benefits or privileges accruing to either party by virtue of their
marriage relationship, or otherwise, whether the same are conferred by statutory or
common law of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, or any other state, or of the
statutory or common law of the United States of America. Except as provided herein, the
Parties specifically waive any and all rights that they may have to equitable distribution
of marital property and/or alimony and counsel fees, except those counsel fees sought in
the event of a breach of this Agreement, or any other marital rights as provided in the
Pennsylvania Divorce Code, Act 26 of 1980 or any amendment thereto.
Each party further releases the other from any and all claims or demands up to the date of
execution hereof and any other claims either party could raise which arise from the
marriage, contract or otherwise.
(20) SEPARABILITY of PROVISIONS: If any term, condition, clause
0 0
or provision of this agreement shall be determined or declared to be void or invalid in
law or otherwise, then only that term, condition, clause or provision shall be stricken
from this Agreement and in all other respects this agreement shall continue in full force,
effect and operation.
(21) GOVERNING LAW: All matters affecting the interpretation of
this Agreement and the rights of the Parties hereto shall be governed by the laws of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(22) INCORPORATION into DIVORCE DECREE: The Parties agree that
this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect after such time as a final Decree in
Divorce may be entered with respect to the parties. Upon entry of the Decree, the
provisions of this Agreement may be incorporated by reference or in substance, but they
shall not be deemed merged into such Decree. The Agreement shall survive any such
Decree in Divorce, shall be independent thereof, and the Parties intend that all
obligations contained in this Agreement shall retain their contractual nature in any
enforcement proceedings, whether enforcement is sought in an action on the contact itself
at law or in equity, or in any enforcement action filed in a Divorce action.
(23) BREACH: It is expressly stipulated that in the event that either party
breaches any provision of this Agreement, he or she shall be responsible for any and all
costs incurred to enforce the Agreement, including, but not limited to, court cost and
counsel fees of the other party. In the event of breach, the other party shall have the right,
at his or her election; to sue for damages for such breach or to seek such other and
additional remedies as may be available to him or her.
(24) ENTIRE UNDERSTANDING: This Agreement constitutes the
entire understanding between the parties and there are no covenants, conditions,
Jennifer J. Gordon
representations, or agreements, oral or written, of any nature whatsoever, other than those
herein contained.
(25) AGREEMENT BINDING on PARTIES and HEIRS:. I t i s
understood and agreed that not only the Parties hereto, but also their heirs,
administrators, executors and assigns, shall be bound by all the terms, conditions and
clauses of this Agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto, intending to be legally bound hereby,
have hereunto set their hands and seals to this Agreement the day and year first above
written.
WITNESS:
Michael A. Scherer, Esquire
Mark A. Mateya, Esq re J n D. Gordon
understanding between the parties and there are no covenants, conditions, representations,
or agreements, oral or written, of any nature whatsoever, other than those herein
contained.
(25) AGREEMENT BINDING on PARTIES and HEIRS: It is
understood and agreed that not only the Parties hereto, but also their heirs, administrators,
executors and assigns, shall be bound by all the terms, conditions and clauses of this
Agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto, intending to be legally bound hereby,
have hereunto set their hands and seals to this Agreement the day and year first above
written.
WITNESS:
Mic el A. Scherer, Esquire
*enni d
Mark A. Mateya, Esquire
Jason D. Gordon
i
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 05-4004
CIVIL ACTION -LAW
IN DIVORCE AND CUSTODY
PRAECIPE TO TRANSMIT RECORD
TO THE PROTHONOTARY:
Transmit the record, together with the following information, to the Court for entry of a
divorce decree:
1. Ground for divorce: irretrievable breakdown under Section 3301(c) of the
Divorce Code.
2. Date and manner of service of the complaint:
By certified mail on August 12, 2005.
3. ' Complete either paragraph (a) or (b):
(a) Date of execution of the affidavit of consent required by Section 3301(c)
of the Divorce Code: by Plaintiff July 24, 2007 ;
by Defendant July 16, 2007
(b)(1) Date of execution of the Plaintiffs affidavit required by Section 3301(d) of
the Divorce Code:
(2) Date of service of the Plaintiffs affidavit upon the Defendant:
4. Related claims pending: None
5. (a) Date and manner of service of the notice of intention to file praecipe to
transmit record, a copy of which is attached:
(b) Date plaintiff s Waiver of Notice in §3301(c) Divorce was filed with the
prothonotary: July 24, 2007.
A
Date defendant's Waiver of Notice in §3301(c) Divorce was filed with the
prothonotary: July 16, 2007.
Each party has filed a Waiver of the Notice of Intention to Request Entry of A
Divorce Decree.
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Mark A. Mateya, Esquire
P.O. Box 127
Boiling Springs, PA 17007
(717) 241-6500
Attorney for Plaintiff
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JASON D. GORDON IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
PLAINTIFF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
V.
• 054004 CIVIL ACTION LAW
JENNIFER J. GORDON N/K./A JENNIFER J.
STARK IN CUSTODY
DEFENDANT
ORDER OF COURT
AND NOW, Thursday, September 06, 2007 _,upon consideration of the attached Complaint,
it is hereby directed that parties and their respective counsel appear before Hubert X. Gilroy, Esq. , the conciliator,
at 4th Floor, Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle on Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 9:30 AM
for a Pre-Hearing Custody Conference. At such conference, an effort will be made to resolve the issues in dispute; or
if this cannot be accomplished, to define and narrow the issues to be heard by the court, and to enter into a temporary
order. All children age five or older may also be present at the conference. Failure to appear at the conference may
provide grounds for entry of a temporary or permanent order.
The court hereby directs the parties to furnish any and all existing Protection from Abuse orders,
Special Relief orders, and Custody orders to the conciliator 48 hours prior to scheduled hearing.
FOR THE COURT.
By: /s/ Hubert X. G&v Es T.
Custody Conciliator
The Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County is required by law to comply with the Americans
with Disabilites Act of 1990. For information about accessible facilities and reasonable accommodations
available to disabled individuals having business before the court, please contact our office. All arrangements
must be made at least 72 hours prior to any hearing or business before the court. You must attend the scheduled
conference or hearing.
YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS PAPER TO YOUR ATTORNEY AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT
HAVE AN ATTORNEY OR CANNOT AFFORD ONE, GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE OFFICE SET
FORTH BELOW TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU CAN GET LEGAL HELP.
Cumberland County Bar Association
32 South Bedford Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
Telephone (717) 249-3166
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JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON
n/k/a JENNIFER J. STARK,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 2005 - 4004 CIVIL TERM
CIVIL ACTION-LAW
PRAECIPE
TO THE PROTHONOTARY:
Kindly withdraw the Petition for Contempt filed recently in this matter as the
parties have settled the issues raised therein.
Date: q-((. 01
UU
Michael A. Scherer
I.D. # 61974
19 West South Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
(717) 249-6873
Attorney for Defendant
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on the I 0-day of , 2007, I, Andrea M.
Ban ick, secretary to Michael A. Scherer, Esquire of O'Brien, Baric & Scherer, did serve
a copy of the Praecipe, by first class U.S. mail, postage prepaid, to the party listed
below, as follows:
Mark A. Mateya, Esquire
P.O. Box 127
Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania 17007
?Ikndrea M. B rrick, Secretary
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JASON GORDON,
Plaintiff
v .
JENNIFER J. GORDON n/k/a
JENNIFER J. STARK,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
CIVIL ACTION - LAW
A, 4W4
NO. 216W -4425-
IN CUSTODY
COURT ORDER
AND NOW, this G day of September, 2007, the Conciliator being advised the
parties have reached an agreement, the Conciliator relinquishes jurisdiction.
Hubert X. Gilro , Esquire
Custody Con 'ator
43S 00,
1 (? ; 3Vt -JO
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY
STATE OF PENNA.
JASON D. GORDON
VERSUS
JENNIFER J. GORDON
No. 4004 2005
DECREE IN
DIVORCE
AND NOW, IT IS ORDERED AND
DECREED THAT JASON D. GORDON PLAINTIFF,
AND
JENNIFER J. GORDON
ARE DIVORCED FROM THE BONDS OF MATRIMONY.
,DEFENDANT,
THE COURT RETAINS JURISDICTION OF THE FOLLOWING CLAIMS WHICH HAVE
BEEN RAISED OF RECORD IN THIS ACTION FOR WHICH A FINAL ORDER HAS NOT
YET BEEN ENTERED;
The court retains jurisdiction of any claims raised by the parties to this action for which a
final order has not yet been entered. The Marriage Settlement Agreement entered
into by and between the parties is incorporated but not merged into the Divorce Decree.
BY THE OURT:
/_ .
ATT E
PROTHONOTARY
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JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 2005 - 4004 CIVIL TERM
JENNIFER J. GORDON '"=~ ?"
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n/k/a JENNIFER J. STARK, CIVIL ACTION-LAW -~
Defendant ~~~' ~~' `~'`
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PETITION TO MODIFY CUSTODY a .Flaw} ~A ~~Y;
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1. The Petitioner is Jennifer J. Stark (hereinafter referred to as "MQer'~_wh
._ ~:
is an adult individual who resides at 4801 Morning Star Lane, Killeen, Bell County,
Texas and is represented by Michael A. Scherer, Esquire.
2. The Respondent is Jason D. Gordon (hereinafter referred to as "Father")
who is an adult individual who resides at 33 Pine Street, Carlisle, Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania and is represented by Mark A. Mateya, Esquire.
3. The parties are the parents of two minor children, Dakota Gordon, born
August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon, born April 30, 2002, (hereinafter referred to as
"children" or "boys")
4. The parties are governed by an Order of Court (hereinafter "Order") dated
July 18, 2006 which is attached hereto as "Exhibit A".
5. The Order essentially gives father primary physical custody and mother
partial custody during the summer and during breaks from school.
6. The Order provides that mother is to have the children for Christmas,
2010, beginning at 5:00 p.m. on December 24.
7. The Order also provides that mother has custody each Easter and for part
of every Thanksgiving.
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8. The Order as written has proven to be inconvenient given the distance
between the parties and the need for travel, especially at Christmas, wherein the Order
requires mother to travel with the children on Christmas Day.
9. Father agrees with the modification relative to Easter and Thanksgiving
but opposes the modification for Christmas.
10. Judge Hess is assigned to this case.
WHEREFORE, Mother respectfully requests this Honorable Court enter an Order
modifying the existing Order to provide that the holiday schedule be modified to a more
suitable arrangement given the need for travel to mother's house during mother's
periods of partial. Mother proposes that the Order provide that:
a. During even numbered years, mother will have custody on the evening of
the last day of school prior to the Easter/Spring break until the evening of
the day prior to the day school resumes. Father will have custody
throughout the entire Thanksgiving Holiday. Mother will have the children
for the Christmas holiday on the evening of the children's last day of
school prior to the Christmas holiday until the evening prior to the day prior
to the day school resumes in the new year.
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b. During the odd numbered years, mother will have custody on the evening
of the last day of school prior to the Thanksgiving break until the evening
of the day prior to the day school resumes. Father will have custody
throughout the entire Spring/Easter break. Father will have the children
for the Christmas holiday on the evening of the children's last day of
school prior to the Christmas holiday until the evening prior to the day prior
to the day school resumes in the new year.
Respectfully Submitted,
BARK SCHERER
Date: November 1, 2010
Michael A UScherer, Esquire
I.D. # 61974
19 West South Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
(717) 249-6873
Attorney for Defendant
mas.dir/domestic/gordon/modifycustody.pet
VERIFICATION
I verify that the statements made in the foregoing Petition To Modify Custody are
true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and belief. This verification is
signed by Michael A. Scherer, Esquire, Attorney for Defendant and is based upon the
statements provided by Defendant, as well as documents reviewed by the undersigned
as attorney for Defendant. This verification will be substituted and ratified by a
verification signed by the Defendant who is presently unavailable to sign said
verification. I undersigned that false statements herein are made subject to penalties of
18 Pa.C.S. §4904, relating to unsworn falsifications to authorities.
Dated: November 1, 2010
Michael A. Scherer, Esquire
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
hereby certify that on November ~ , 2010, I, Andrea M. Ramos secretary at
Baric Scherer, did serve a copy of the Petition To Modify Custody, by first class U.S.
mail, postage prepaid, to the party listed below, as follows:
Mark Mateya, Esquire
55 West Church Avenue
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
DI.,{'YlU
Andre M. amos
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JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
vs.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
CIVIL ACTION -LAW
NO. OS-4004 CIVIL
IN CUSTODY
IN RE: PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO MODIFY CUSTODY
ORDER
AND NOW, this ~S` day of July, 2006, after hearing, it is ordered and directed
as follows:
1. The father, Jason D. Gordon, and the mother, Jennifer J. Gordon, shall enjoy shared
legal custody of Dakota Gordon, born August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon, born Apri130, 2002.
Decisions effecting the children's well being including, but not limited to, medical treatment,
education and religious training, are decisions which the mother and father shall make jointly.
Each parent shall have full and complete access to the children's medical, dental, religious and
school records. This includes the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all medical and
other providers.
2. Upon the relocation of the mother, the father shall .have primary physical custody of
said children. The mother shall have partial physical custody as follows:
a. During the school year, each fall and spring/Easter break, on the evening of the
last day of school prior to the break until the evening of the day prior to the day school
resumes;
"Exhibit A"
b. For the Thanksgiving holiday from Friday after Thanksgiving until the evening
prior to the day school resumes following the holiday;
c. For the Christmas holiday, in even years, the mother shall have the children from
5:00 p.m. on December 24`x' until 3:00 p.m. on the evening prior to the day school
resumes following the holiday. In odd years, the mother shall have the children on
Christmas day at 5:00 p.m. until the evening prior to the day school resumes following
the holiday;
d. When mother is traveling with Shanon Stark, in connection with over-the-road
trucking, mother shall be permitted to have partial physical custody of the children when
such trucking activities bring her to the Carlisle area and may even take the children,
from time to time, with her on such over-the-road trips, provided that mother gives father
at least forty-eight hours' notice of such intention to exercise physical custody and
provided the children do not miss any school and provided that the children do not have
any previously scheduled activities for themselves or that father did not have any
previously scheduled activities with the children. Mother shall insure that, when the
children are transported in Shanon Stark's commercial vehicle, the children will be
transported in compliance with all federal rules and regulations and any other rules of the
jurisdiction where the children are present; and
e. Each summer beginning the second Saturday after school concludes until the
second Saturday preceding the commencement of the new school year.
3. Mother shall be responsible for transportation arrangements and costs.
4. The father shall install a video camera on his computer at his residence so that the
children may have liberal contact with their mother via computer cameras.
BY THE COURT,
~ '~
Hess, J.
Mark A. Mateya, Esquire
For the Plaintiff
Michael Scherer, Esquire
For the Defendant
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JASON D. GORDON
PLAINTIFF
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON N/K/A JENNIFER J.
START
DEFENDANT"
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY; PENNSYLVANIA
2005-4004 CIVIL ACTION LAW
IN CUSTODY
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ORDER OF COURT
AND NOW, Tuesday, NT vember 09, 2010 , upon consideration of the attached Complaint,
it is hereby directed that parties and their respective counsel appear before Hubert X. Gilroy, Esq. , the conciliator,
at 4th Floor, Cumberland County Courthouse, Carlisle on Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 2:00 PM
for a Pre-Hearing Custody Conference. At such conference, an effort will be made to resolve the issues in dispute; or
if this cannot be accomplished, to define and narrow the issues to be heard by the court, and to enter into a temporary
order. Failure to appear at the conference may provide grounds for entry of a temporary or peinianent order.
The court hereby directs the parties to furnish any and all existing Protection from Abuse orders,
Special Relief orders, and Custody orders to the conciliator 48 hours prior to scheduled hearing.
FOR THE COURT,
By: /s/ Hubert X Gilroy, Esq.
Custody Conciliator
The Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County is required by law to comply with the Americans
with Disabilites Act of 1990. For information about accessible facilities and reasonable accommodations
available to disabled individuals having business before the court, please contact our office, All arrangements
must be made at least 72 hours prior to any hearing or business before the court. You must attend. the scheduled
conference or hearing.
YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS PAPER TO YOUR ATTORNEY AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT
HAVE AN ATTORNEY OR CANNOT AFFORD ONE, GO TO OR TELEPHONE THE OFFICE SET
FORTH BELOW TO FIND OUT WHERE YOU CAN GET LEGAL HELP.
Cumberland County Bar Association
32 South Bedford Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
Telephone (717) 249-3166
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IN
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 2005 - 4004 CIVIL TERM
CIVIL ACTION-LAW
IN CUSTODY
PRAECIPE TO WITHDRAW
TO THE PROTHONOTARY:
Please withdraw the Petition To Modify Custody filed in the above matter on
November 2, 2010. Hubert X. Gilroy, Esquire, the custody conciliator assigned to this
matter may relinquish his jurisdiction and the July 18, 2006 Order shall remain in full
force and effect.
Respectfully submitted,
BARIC SCHERER
is 'ael '. Scherer, Esquire
I. D. # 61974
19 West South Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
(717) 249-6873 n
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on December 21, 2010, I, Jennifer S. Lindsay, secretary at
Baric Scherer, did serve a copy of a Praecipe To Withdraw, by first class U.S. mail,
postage prepaid, to the party listed below, as follows:
Mark Mateya, Esquire
55 West Church Avenue
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
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QEG 72010
JASON D. GORDON, IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
Plaintiff CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
VS. CIVIL ACTION •. LAW
JENNIFER J. GORDON, NO. 2005-4004 Defendant IN CUSTODY
ORDER
AND NOW, this day of December, 2010, the Conciliator being advised that
counsel for the Defendant is filing Praecipe to Withdraw Petition and the Custody Conciliation
Conference is no longer needed, the Conciliator relinquishes jurisdiction.
Hubert X. Gilro , Esquire
Custody Con iator
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JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON
n/k/a JENNIFER J. STARK,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 2005 - 4004 CIVIL TERM
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CIVIL ACTION-LAW
PETITION TO MODIFY CUSTODY
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1. The Petitioner is Jennifer J. Stark (hereinafter referred to as "Mother") who
is an adult individual who resides at 4801 Morning Star Lane, Killeen, Bell County,
Texas and is represented by Michael A. Scherer, Esquire.
2. The Respondent is Jason D. Gordon (hereinafter referred to as "Father")
who is an adult individual who resides at 33 Pine Street, Carlisle, Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania and is represented by Mark A. Mateya, Esquire.
3. The parties are the parents of two minor children, Dakota Gordon, born
August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon, born April 30, 2002, (hereinafter referred to as
"children" or "boys")
4. The parties are governed by an Order of Court (hereinafter "Order") dated
July 18, 2006 which is attached hereto as "Exhibit A".
5. The Order essentially gives father primary physical custody and mother
partial custody during the summer and during breaks from school.
6. On May 28, 2011 at about 5:30 p.m., Father contacted the Mother and
indicated that he "couldn't do it anymore" referring to his exercise of primary custody of
the children.
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7. Father had taken Dakota to a counselor to address certain educational
and emotional issues and apparently the counselor advised that a change was
necessary for Dakota.
8. Father proposed to Mother that the boys be separated and that Dakota
reside primarily with Mother and that Noah reside primarily with Father.
9. Mother does not believe that it will be in the boys' best interest to separate
them.
10. Mother has rearranged her employment situation to create a situation
wherein she will be available for the boys during times when the boys are not in school.
11. Judge Hess is assigned to this case.
12. Father objects to Mother's request herein.
WHEREFORE, Mother respectfully requests this Honorable Court enter an Order
modifying the existing Order to provide that Mother have primary physical custody of the
children and that Father have partial physical custody of the children during the
summer, on holidays and at such other times as is convenient for the parties.
Respectfully Submitted,
BARIC SCHERER
Date: June 20, 2011
Michael A. Scherer, Esquire
I. D. # 61974
19 West South Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
(717) 249-6873
Attorney for Defendant
VERIFICATION
Jennifer J. Stark, verify that the statements made in the foregoing Petition To
Modify Custody are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information and
belief.
I understand that false statements herein are made subject to the penalties of 18
Pa.C.S. §4904 relating to unsworn falsifications to authorities.
Date: 01 L
Jen if . Stark
147
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on June 20, 2011, I, Andrea M. Ramos secretary at Baric
Scherer, did serve a copy of the Petition To Modify Custody, by first class U.S. mail,
postage prepaid, to the party listed below, as follows:
Mark Mateya, Esquire
55 West Church Avenue
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
Andrea . Ram s
JASON D. GORDON, IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
Plaintiff CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
vs. CIVIL ACTION - LAW
NO. 05-4004 CIVIL
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
Defendant IN CUSTODY
IN RE: PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO MODIFY CUSTODY
ORDER
AND NOW, this 13` day of July, 2006, after hearing, it is ordered and directed
as follows:
1. The father, Jason D. Gordon, and the mother, Jennifer J. Gordon, shall enjoy shared
legal custody of Dakota Gordon, born August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon, born April 30, 2002.
Decisions effecting the children's well being including, but not limited to, medical treatment,
education and religious training, are decisions which the mother and father shall make jointly.
Each parent shall have full and complete access to the children's medical, dental, religious and
school records. This includes the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all medical and
other providers.
2. Upon the relocation of the mother, the father shall have primary physical custody of
said children. The mother shall have partial physical custody as follows:
a. During the school year, each fall and spring/Easter break, on the evening of the
last day of school prior to the break until the evening of the day prior to the day school
resumes;
Exhibit"A"
b. For the Thanksgiving holiday from Friday after Thanksgiving until the evening
prior to the day school resumes following the holiday;
c. For the Christmas holiday, in even years, the mother shall have the children from
5:00 p.m. on December 20' until 3:00 p.m. on the evening prior to the day school
resumes following the holiday. In odd years, the mother shall have the children on
Christmas day at 5:00 p.m. until the evening prior to the day school resumes following
the holiday;
d. When mother is traveling with Shanon Stark, in connection with over-the-road
trucking, mother shall be permitted to have partial physical custody of the children when
such trucking activities bring her to the Carlisle area and may even take the children,
from time to time, with her on such over-the-road trips, provided that mother gives father
at least forty-eight hours' notice of such intention to exercise physical custody and
provided the children do not miss any school and provided that the children do not have
any previously scheduled activities for themselves or that father did not have any
previously scheduled activities with the children. Mother shall insure that, when the
children are transported in Shanon Stark's commercial vehicle, the children will be
transported in compliance with all federal rules and regulations and any other rules of the
jurisdiction where the children are present; and
e. Each summer beginning the second Saturday after school concludes until the
second Saturday preceding the commencement of the new school year.
3. Mother shall be responsible for transportation arrangements and costs.
4. The father shall install a video camera on his computer at his residence so that the
children may have liberal contact with their mother via computer cameras.
BY THE COURT,
Mark A. Mateya, Esquire
For the Plaintiff
Michael Scherer, Esquire
For the Defendant
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Kevin/A. Hess, J.
TRUE CO?Y FROki, r,-.EC'--'RD D
T timonV : ht re0f, I here unto set my hand
an t a seaI 0 ur at arli e, Pa. a
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JASON D. GORDON, IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEA§ OF c,
Plaintiff 41
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNS A`n
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vs. CIVIL ACTION - LAW
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JENNIFER J. GORDON NO. 2005-4004 d z z
n/k/a/ JENNIFER J. STARK, .
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Defendant IN CUSTODY q
COURT ORDER
AND NOW, this 1.504 day of July, 2011, upon consideration of the attached Custody
Conciliation Report, it is ordered and directed as follows:
1. A hearing is scheduled in courtroom No. 4 of the Cumberland County Courthouse
on the _L f' day of , 2011, at j ! 5 d 01 . M.
At this hearing, the Mother shal be the moving party and shall proceed initially with
testimony. Counsel for the parties shall file with the Court and opposing counsel a
Memorandum setting forth the history of custody in this case, the issues currently
before the Court, a list of witnesses who will be called to testify on behalf of each
party, and a summary of the anticipated testimony of each witness. This
Memorandum shall be filed at least five (5) days prior to the mentioned hearing date.
2. Pending further Order of this Court, this Court's prior Order of July 18, 2006, shall
remain in place.
BY THE COURT,
'4 ?
ss, Judge
cc: Yark A. Mateya, Esquire
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Michael A. Scherer, Esquire ?Pj" Nt
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JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
vs.
JENNIFER J. GORDON
n/k/a/ JENNIFER J. STARK,
Defendant
Prior Judge: The Honorable Kevin A. Hess
CIVIL ACTION - LAW
NO. 2005-4004
IN CUSTODY
CONCILIATION CONFERENCE SUMMARY REPORT
IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CUMBERLAND COUNTY RULE OF CIVIL
PROCEDURE 1915.3-8(b), the undersigned Custody Conciliator submits the following report:
I . The Conciliator conducted a telephone conference with the attorneys for the parties
in this case. The situation is that there is a prior Order from 2006 giving Father
primary custody with Mother periods of temporary custody. Back in 2006, Mother
was living in Texas and Father was living in Pennsylvania.
2. Mother has now petitioned to modify the custody Order and is seeking primary
custody. Father disagrees with Mother's request, and there was no need for an in-
person conciliation conference since it was clear to everybody that this matter needed
to be referred to the Court for a hearing.
3. The Conciliator recommends the entry of an Order in the form as attached.
Date: July , 2011 AIPI /
Hubert X. Gi y, Esquire
Custody Co ciliator
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
V. : NO. 05-4004
JENNIFER J. GORDON, CIVIL ACTION - LAW
n/k/a JENNIFER J. STARK, ;
Defendant IN DIVORCE AND CUSTODY =°'
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PLAINTIFF'S PETITION TO RESCHEDULE HEARING
C.3
AND NOW comes Plaintiff, Jason D. Gordon, by and through his counsel, Mark A.
Mateya, Esquire and in support avers the following:
1. This matter was commenced by way of Defendant filing a Petition to Modify
Custody on or about June 20, 2011.
2. A hearing has been scheduled to the above term and number for August 19, 2011,
at 1:30 p.m., before the Honorable Judge Kevin A. Hess.
3. This matter involves complex issues which require more than testimony from
Plaintiff and Defendant.
4. One of Plaintiff's crucial witnesses is unavailable to testify at the presently
scheduled hearing and without such testimony Plaintiff's case will be diminished.
5. Plaintiff's counsel has requested concurrence from opposing counsel for a
continuance of the present matter to which Defendant's counsel does not concur.
WHEREFORE, upon consideration of the foregoing, it is respectfully requested that this
Honorable Court reschedule the foregoing hearing on Defendant's Petition to Modify Custody
and reschedule the hearing at the earliest convenience of the Court.
Respectfully submitted,
.I(V
Mark A. Mateya, E uire
Attorney ID No. 78931
55 W. Church Avenue
Carlisle, PA 17013
(717) 241-6500
(717) 241-3099 Fax
Counsel for Plaintiff
Date: 7 L 6( l`
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON,
n/k/a JENNIFER J. STARK,
Defendant
: IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 05-4004
CIVIL ACTION -LAW
IN DIVORCE AND CUSTODY
CERTIFICATE OF NON-CONCURRENCE
I, Mark A. Mateya, Esquire, attorney for Jason D. Gordon contacted Michael Scherer,
Esquire, Attorney for Jennifer J. Gordon, n/k/a Jennifer J. Stark, and requested his concurrence in
a Petition to Reschedule Hearing, in the above-referenced matter. Attorney Scherer did not give
his concurrence to the Petition.
Respectfully submitted,
i? A
Date:
Mark A. MateyaU squire
Attorney ID No. 78931
55 W. Church Avenue
Carlisle, PA 17013
(717) 241-6500
(717) 241-3099 Fax
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I, Mark A. Mateya, Esquire, hereby certify that I have served a copy of the foregoing
document on the following person(s) by depositing a true and correct copy of the same in the
United States Mail, first class, postage prepaid, at Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania
addressed to:
Michael A Scherer Esquire
O'Brien Baric & Scherer
19 West South Street
Carlisle PA 17013
Mark A. Mateya, E quire
55 W. Church Avenue
Carlisle PA 17013
(717) 241-6500
(717) 241-3099 Fax
Dated: Zc ??
t
JASON D. GORDON,
Plaintiff
V.
JENNIFER J. GORDON
n/k/a JENNIFER J. STARK,
Defendant
IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
NO. 2005 - 4004 CIVIL TERM
CIVIL ACTION-LAW
DEFENDANT'S ANSWER TO PLAINTIFF'S
MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE
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1. The Defendant, Jennifer Stark (hereinafter "Mother"), is represented in this
matter by Michael A. Scherer, Esquire.
2. The Plaintiff, Jason D. Gordon (hereinafter "Father") is represented by
Mark A. Mateya, Esquire.
3. Mother filed a Petition to Modify Custody which Petition was not resolved
at the conciliation and was referred to this Honorable Court for a hearing.
4. Robbie March, secretary to Judge Hess, provided both counsel with
several possible dates for the hearing, and both counsel agreed to have the hearing on
August 19, 2011 beginning at 1:30 p.m.
5. The children, Dakota Gordon, born August 6, 1999, and Noah Gordon,
born April 30, 2002, (hereinafter "children" or "boys"), have resided in Cumberland
County, Pennsylvania and Mother's Petition to Modify requests that primary physical
custody be given to her, which would involve the boys moving to the State of Texas with
mother and her husband.
6. Mother's Petition to Modify Custody alleges that on May 28, 2011 at about
5:30 p.m., Father contacted the Mother and indicated that he "couldn't do it anymore"
referring to his exercise of primary custody of the children.
7. School begins for the boys in either Pennsylvania or Texas shortly after
August 19, 2011 and it is important to resolve as much of the case as possible prior to
the start of school.
8. Undersigned counsel believes that if the Court were to hear from both
parents and the boys at a hearing on August 19, 2011, that the Court would have most
of the information it needs to decide this case.
9. Undersigned counsel disagrees that this case involves complex issues.
Counsel for the parties have been communicating and cooperating regarding the
evidence at the hearing and have agreed to the admission of all school records for the
boys.
10. The only other witness counsel have discussed is a counselor who Dakota
saw for a short period of time; undersigned counsel submits that if his testimony cannot
occur on the afternoon of August 19, 2011, perhaps he could be called as a witness by
phone or in person at a later time if the Court has a short block of time wherein that
could occur.
11. Otherwise undersigned counsel is unaware of any complex issues in this
case and does not see the need for a continuance, particularly in light of the imminent
school issue.
WHEREFORE, undersigned counsel respectfully requests that the Motion for
Continuance be denied and that the Court hear as much of the case and perhaps the
entire case on August 19, 2011.
Respectfully submitted,
BARIC SCHERER
Date: August 2, 2011 44? Y/,, ?I/L , /
a A. Scherer, Esquire
I. D. # 61974
19 West South Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
(717) 249-6873
Attorney for Defendant
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
hereby certify that on August 2, 2011, I, Jennifer S. Lindsay secretary at Baric
Scherer LLC, did serve a copy of the Defendant's Answer To Plaintiff's Motion For
Continuance, by first class U.S. mail, postage prepaid, to the party listed below, as
follows:
Mark Mateya, Esquire
55 West Church Avenue
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
J if indsay
.I
JASON D. GORDON, IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
Plaintiff CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
V. NO. 2005 - 4004 CIVIL TERM
JENNIFER J. GORDON C- -_,
n/k/a JENNIFER J. STARK, : -?' '
CIVIL ACTION-LAW nIGG "
Defendants ?.r-
L_?
ORDER OF COURT
771
AND NOW, this V day of Auc -1-, 2011, upon consideration of the,. RVl
within Defendant's Answer To Plaintiff's Motion For Continuance, Plaintiff's Motion For
Continuance is hereby denied.
Michael A. Scherer, Esquire
Baric Scherer LLC
19 West South Street
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
Mark Mateya, Esquire
55 West Church Avenue
Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013
BY THE COURT,
in A. Hess, J.
Copes
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